Cobble Bluetooth-Lautsprecher by Eric Wu

Cobble Bluetooth-Lautsprecher by Eric Wu is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 A' Design Award in Eisen in Unterhaltungselektronik Competition Category.

EisenUnterhaltungselektronik· 2025

Cobble Bluetooth-Lautsprecher

by Eric Wu

Client: EW Design

A' Design Award in Eisen Winner in Unterhaltungselektronik 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-Lautsprecher

Cobble ist ein Bluetooth-Regallautsprecher mit einer interaktiven Bedienoberfläche auf der Oberseite. Vier magnetische Stifte lassen sich in unterschiedlichen Mustern auf einem Raster platzieren. Ist ein voreingestelltes Muster vollständig gelegt, gibt der Lautsprecher ein gespeichertes Klangprofil wieder, etwa eine Naturklang- oder Weißes-Rauschen-Schleife. Darüber hinaus funktioniert Cobble als gewöhnlicher Bluetooth-Lautsprecher für Audioinhalte eines verbundenen Geräts. Das Setzen der Stifte erinnert an das Brettspiel Go und lädt zu einem kurzen Moment stiller Konzentration ein. Der Prototyp besteht aus einem Holzgehäuse, sandgestrahlten Acrylplatten und LED-Lichtleisten.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award in Eisen

Cobble Bluetooth-Lautsprecher ist Gewinner des A' Design Award in Eisen, einer prestigeträchtigen Anerkennung für gute Designs, die die beruflichen und industriellen Anforderungen erfüllen, die an gut gestaltete Schöpfungen gestellt werden. Eisen-Gewinner zeigen großes Können, hohe Spezialisierung, fachkundiges Verständnis und die kreative Kapazität ihrer Schöpfer. Von Cobble Bluetooth-Lautsprecher wird erwartet, dass es eine hochgeschätzte, bewunderte und geliebte Schöpfung ist, die praktisch und innovativ ist. Dieses mit dem A' Design Award in Eisen prämierte Design integriert bewährte Branchenverfahren und weist kompetente technische Merkmale in Verbindung mit Know-how und Talent auf. Cobble Bluetooth-Lautsprecher wird für seine Gründlichkeit geschätzt und ist darauf ausgelegt, Verbesserungen der Lebensqualität zu liefern, die dazu beitragen, die Welt zu einem besseren Ort zu machen.

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