Cobble Bluetooth-højttaler by Eric Wu is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 A' Design Award i Jern in Forbrugerelektronik Competition Category.

JernForbrugerelektronik· 2025

Cobble Bluetooth-højttaler

by Eric Wu

Client: EW Design

A' Design Award i Jern Winner in Forbrugerelektronik Category

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Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #167221

View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Cobble Bluetooth-højttaler

Cobble er en Bluetooth-hyldehøjttaler med en interaktiv brugerflade på oversiden. Fire magnetiske brikker kan placeres i forskellige mønstre på et gitter. Når et forudindstillet mønster fuldføres, afspiller højttaleren en gemt lydprofil, såsom en naturlyd eller en white noise-loop. Cobble fungerer også som en almindelig Bluetooth-højttaler til lyd fra en tilsluttet enhed. Placeringen af brikkerne minder om brætspillet Go og indbyder til et kort øjeblik af stille koncentration. Prototypen anvender et kabinet i træ, sandblæste akrylpaneler og LED-lysstrimler.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award i Jern

Cobble Bluetooth-højttaler er vinder af A' Design Award i Jern, en prestigefyldt anerkendelse, der tildeles gode designs, som opfylder de professionelle og industrielle krav, man forventer af veldesignede skabelser. Jernvinderne viser stor dygtighed, høj specialisering, ekspertforståelse og kreativ kapacitet hos deres skabere. Cobble Bluetooth-højttaler forventes at være en højt estimeret, beundret og kær skabelse, der er praktisk og innovativ. Dette design, der har vundet A' Design Award i Jern, integrerer branchens bedste praksis og har kompetente tekniske egenskaber knyttet til knowhow og talent. Cobble Bluetooth-højttaler respekteres for sin grundighed og er designet til at levere forbedringer af livskvaliteten, der er med til at gøre verden til et bedre sted.

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