Z-4190 bubble shield

The Bubble Shield is a UNSC anti-artillery and personal defense device.

Summary
The Bubble Shield is a Human defensive device used primarily by the Marine forces of the UNSC, however Covenant loyalist have been known to secure human weapons and equipment the bubble shield being the most common. The shield itself is a Geodesic dome (of sorts) made of tessellating hexagons. The bubble shield projects a defensive field around the user when deployed that blocks all projectiles. Vehicles and players however, are still able to pass through it.

General
Originally during Halo 3's development the bubble shield was suppose to be the function of the X button, however the developers were not satisfied with the shield in general. It was only until the developers saw the Starry Night commercial that sold them on the idea of the bubble shield. Since that time the shield became a piece of equipment that the player would pick up over the course of gameplay. This also lead to the creation of the other pieces of equipment like the grav lift, power drainer, and the trip mine.

Starry Night Commercial
This incarnation of the Bubble Shield was more cylindrical and had a safety cover on top of the "grenade", which could be flipped up to expose the red activation button. After that, it emitted a charging sound and upon resting on the ground for a short time, created the shield. Since Bungie stated that all assets in the commercial were produced by them, it is safe to say this device will show up in the game. It should be noted, however, that the "Starry Night" commercial is CGI [] and the appearance may not be too accurate.

Is Quisnam Protero Damno" Multiplayer ViDoc
A player deployed this version while running from Battle Rifle fire. The shield successfully absorbed all projectiles and grenade explosions fired. It appeared to be a large sphere-shaped object. It could roll around while activated. It appeared much larger than its first appearance in the Starry Night commercial. This version of the Bubble Shield is seen used in the Alpha-stage Halo 3 footage for multiplayer. The Bubble Grenade rolls down a hill as the Spartan-II concealed in the sphere back-pedals away from an enemy. Information later released by Bungie, however, stated that the sphere would rest on the ground and the Spartan II would need to stand still to enjoy its effects.

Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta
The bubble shield appears and functions differently from both of its previous appearances. This version is similar to the Starry Night appearance. In the Halo 3 Beta the Bubble Shield is stationary and does not roll as it did in the ViDoc. The shield itself has remained the same otherwise. The Bubble Shield generator looks significantly different in the beta version than it does in both the commercial and the ViDoc. The generator has four legs and can be destroyed from within the shield, collapsing it prematurely.

Halo 3 Multiplayer
The Bubble Shield has changed since its appearance in the public multiplayer beta. The most noticeable being the shield effect itself. The shield now produces a yellow glow, making it more visible at longer distances. The shield generator itself, now produces a blueish glow once activated. The time in which the shield stays activated is about two seconds shorter.

Throughout all these physical changes, the shield itself has stayed the same with the hexagon patterns and transparency.

Trivia

 * Frankie has said that the shield is ONI tech..
 * This shield resembles the description of the Onyx Sentinel shields in the Eric Nylund novel Ghosts of Onyx.