Cobble Seinydd Bluetooth by Eric Wu is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 Gwobr Haearn A' Design Award in Electroneg Defnyddwyr Competition Category.

HaearnElectroneg Defnyddwyr· 2025

Cobble Seinydd Bluetooth

by Eric Wu

Client: EW Design

Gwobr Haearn A' Design Award Winner in Electroneg Defnyddwyr Category

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View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

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The Design

About Cobble Seinydd Bluetooth

Mae Cobble yn seinydd silff lyfrau Bluetooth gyda rhyngwyneb rhyngweithiol ar yr wyneb uchaf. Gellir gosod pedwar peg magnetig mewn gwahanol batrymau ar grid. Pan gwblheir patrwm rhagosodedig, mae'r seinydd yn chwarae proffil sain wedi'i gadw, megis dolen sŵn natur neu sŵn gwyn. Mae Cobble hefyd yn gweithredu fel seinydd Bluetooth arferol ar gyfer sain o ddyfais gysylltiedig. Mae gosod y pegiau yn atgoffa rhywun o'r gêm fwrdd Go ac yn gwahodd ennyd fer o dawelwch a chanolbwyntio. Mae'r prototeip yn defnyddio cas pren, paneli acrylig wedi'u tywod-chwythu a stribedi golau LED.

The Recognition

About the Gwobr Haearn A' Design Award

Mae Cobble Seinydd Bluetooth yn enillydd Gwobr Haearn A' Design Award, cydnabyddiaeth fawreddog a roddir i ddyluniadau da sydd yn bodloni'r gofynion proffesiynol a diwydiannol a ddisgwylir gan greadigaethau wedi'u dylunio'n dda. Mae enillwyr Haearn yn dangos medrusrwydd mawr, arbenigedd uchel, dealltwriaeth arbenigol a gallu creadigol eu crewyr. Disgwylir i Cobble Seinydd Bluetooth fod yn greadigaeth uchel ei bri, a edmygir ac a anwylir, sydd yn ymarferol ac yn arloesol. Mae'r dyluniad buddugol hwn o Wobr Haearn A' Design Award yn integreiddio arferion gorau'r diwydiant ac mae ganddo nodweddion technegol cymwys wedi'u cysylltu â gwybodaeth ymarferol a dawn. Parchir Cobble Seinydd Bluetooth am ei drylwyredd ac fe'i dyluniwyd i ddarparu gwelliannau ansawdd bywyd sydd yn helpu i wneud y byd yn lle gwell.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Cobble is a speaker with an interactive interface at the top. The user has access to 4 pegs that they can place in various patterns. When preset patterns connect, the speaker plays a saved tone. The speaker is made with the concept of "inadvertent mindfulness." Studies have found that the simple action of concentrating on one's actions offer moments of respite. By placing pegs, much like how one places stones in a Go game, the user enjoys a moment of peace.
Dimensions & Packaging: 7 1/2" (width) * 7 5/16" (depth) * 2" (height)
Tags: Speaker, Office, Mindfulness, Audio, Music
Production Technology: The prototype was constructed with a wooden casing with a four-panel construction. Sand-blasted acrylic panels are used to diffuse the lighting from LED light strips. The prototype control panel was made from an Arduino nano and will be replaced with more efficient chips in mass production. We experimented with various sensing methods and settled on magnetic sensing with Hall effect sensors as they appeared to be the most reliable.
Design Challenge: The hardest part was figuring out the sweet spot of a big enough surface area and a compact enough footprint, the product being a shelf speaker after all. People wanted to engage with the interface but too much of it offered diminishing returns and research participants had more complaints of space constraints.
Research: User research was conducted in collaboration with co-working spaces. We tested hypotheses like the following:
- How much spacing and how big do people prefer the pegs to be
- How many rows and columns work the best, offering novelty and comfort without overloading the user
- What footprint works the best without sacrificing too much room for interaction
Inspiration: The design originated in a desire to question the prevalence of active mindfulness practices today. We have meditation apps, mindfulness sessions offered by corporations, and many more. While mindfulness is great, there are alternative activities that humans go to for similar purposes, without bearing the label of "mindfulness." Go, the Asian board game using stones, was a primary inspiration. What if we could have something built in that stimulates a sense of mindfulness, just like Go?
Project Duration: Duration: 6 months
Location: Rhode Island, United States
Operation Flow: The product behaves like a normal bluetooth speaker, so the user can connect to it with an end device and play whatever they want.

The unique interaction is that it can save and activate various sound profiles, which can be activated via placement of the magnetic pegs. The user would have to download a mobile app to change the default profiles, which are nature and white noise sound loops.
Team Members: Eric Wu
Image Credits: Photos: Eric Wu