Cobble Altavoz Bluetooth by Eric Wu is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 A' Design Award de Hierro in Diseño de Electrónica de Consumo Competition Category.

HierroElectrónica de Consumo· 2025

Cobble Altavoz Bluetooth

by Eric Wu

Client: EW Design

A' Design Award de Hierro Winner in Electrónica de Consumo Category

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Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #167221

View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

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The Design

About Cobble Altavoz Bluetooth

Cobble es un altavoz Bluetooth de estantería con una interfaz interactiva en su superficie superior. Cuatro piezas magnéticas pueden colocarse formando distintos patrones sobre una cuadrícula. Cuando se completa un patrón preestablecido, el altavoz reproduce un perfil sonoro guardado, como un bucle de sonidos de la naturaleza o de ruido blanco. Cobble también funciona como un altavoz Bluetooth convencional para reproducir el audio de un dispositivo conectado. La colocación de las piezas evoca el juego de mesa Go e invita a un breve momento de concentración silenciosa. El prototipo emplea una carcasa de madera, paneles de acrílico arenado y tiras de luces LED.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award de Hierro

Cobble Altavoz Bluetooth ha ganado el A' Design Award de Hierro, un reconocimiento prestigioso concedido a buenos diseños que cumplen los requisitos profesionales e industriales que se esperan de creaciones bien diseñadas. Los ganadores de Hierro demuestran gran habilidad, alta especialización, comprensión experta y capacidad creativa de sus creadores. Se espera que Cobble Altavoz Bluetooth sea una creación muy apreciada, admirada y querida, práctica e innovadora. Este diseño ganador del A' Design Award de Hierro integra las mejores prácticas del sector y tiene características técnicas competentes unidas a conocimiento práctico y talento. Cobble Altavoz Bluetooth es respetado por su minuciosidad y está concebido para aportar mejoras en la calidad de vida que ayudan a hacer del mundo un lugar mejor.

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