Cobble Kaset na Bluetooth by Eric Wu is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 Kyautar A' Design Award ta Baƙin Ƙarfe in Na'urorin Lantarki Competition Category.

Baƙin ƘarfeNa'urorin Lantarki· 2025

Cobble Kaset na Bluetooth

by Eric Wu

Client: EW Design

Kyautar A' Design Award ta Baƙin Ƙarfe Winner in Na'urorin Lantarki Category

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View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Cobble Kaset na Bluetooth

Cobble kaset ne na Bluetooth wanda ake sanyawa akan shelf, mai da'irar hulɗa a saman farfajiyarsa. Ana iya sanya alluran maganadisu guda huɗu a fasali daban-daban akan wani grid. Idan aka kammala wani fasali da aka riga aka tsara, kaset ɗin zai kunna wani sautin da aka ajiye a baya, kamar sautin yanayi ko white noise mai maimaitawa. Cobble kuma yana aiki kamar kaset na Bluetooth na yau da kullum, yana kunna sauti daga na'urar da aka haɗa da shi. Sanya alluran yana tunatar da wasan allo na Go, yana gayyatar ɗan gajeren lokaci na natsuwa da tunani mai zurfi. Samfurin farko yana amfani da akwatin katako, faranti na acrylic da aka yi wa sand-blasting, da kuma layukan hasken LED.

The Recognition

About the Kyautar A' Design Award ta Baƙin Ƙarfe

Zanen Cobble Kaset na Bluetooth ya lashe Kyautar A' Design Award ta Baƙin Ƙarfe, wata karramawa mai daraja da ake bai wa kyawawan zane-zane waɗanda ke cika buƙatun ƙwararru da masana'antu da ake tsammani daga ƙirƙire-ƙirƙire da aka tsara da kyau. Waɗanda suka lashe kyautar Baƙin Ƙarfe suna nuna babban ƙwarewa, ƙwarewa ta musamman, fahimtar ƙwararru da ikon ƙirƙira na masu ƙirƙirar su. Ana sa ran zanen Cobble Kaset na Bluetooth ya zama ƙirƙira da ake girmamawa sosai, ake sha'awa da ƙauna wacce ke da amfani kuma mai sababbin abubuwa. Wannan zane da ya lashe Kyautar A' Design Award ta Baƙin Ƙarfe yana haɗa mafi kyawun ayyukan fannin kuma yana da halayen fasaha masu cancanta da ke da alaƙa da sanin yadda da baiwa. Ana girmama zanen Cobble Kaset na Bluetooth saboda cikakkiyar kulawarsa kuma an tsara shi don ba da ingantuwar rayuwa da ke taimakawa wajen mai da duniya wuri mafi kyau.

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