Cobble Bluetooth hátalari by Eric Wu is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 A' Design Award í járni in Hönnun stafrænna tækja og raftækja Competition Category.

JárnRaftæki· 2025

Cobble Bluetooth hátalari

by Eric Wu

Client: EW Design

A' Design Award í járni Winner in Raftæki Category

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Verified Award Winner
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View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Cobble Bluetooth hátalari

Cobble er Bluetooth hátalari fyrir hillu með gagnvirku viðmóti á efra borði. Hægt er að staðsetja fjóra segulmagnaða pinna í mismunandi mynstur á rist. Þegar fyrirfram ákveðið mynstur er fullklárað spilar hátalarinn vistað hljóðsnið, eins og náttúrhljóð eða hvítan suðklið í lykkju. Cobble virkar einnig sem venjulegur Bluetooth hátalari fyrir hljóð frá tengdu tæki. Það að raða pinnunum minnir á borðspilið Go og býður upp á stutta stund af rólegri einbeitingu. Frumgerðin notar viðarklæðningu, sandblásnar akrýlplötur og LED ljósaræmur.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award í járni

Cobble Bluetooth hátalari vann A' Design Award í járni, virta viðurkenningu sem veitt er góðum hönnunarverkum sem uppfylla þær faglegu og iðnaðarlegu kröfur sem gerðar eru til vel hannaðra sköpunarverka. Sigurvegarar í járni sýna mikla færni, mikla sérhæfingu, sérfræðiskilning og skapandi getu höfunda sinna. Þess er vænst að Cobble Bluetooth hátalari sé mjög metið, dáð og elskað sköpunarverk sem er hagnýtt og nýstárlegt. Þetta hönnunarverk sem vann A' Design Award í járni sameinar bestu starfsvenjur greinarinnar og hefur hæfa tæknilega eiginleika tengda þekkingu og hæfileikum. Cobble Bluetooth hátalari er virt fyrir nákvæmni sína og er hannað til að veita lífsgæðabætur sem hjálpa til við að gera heiminn að betri stað.

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