Cobble 블루투스 스피커 by Eric Wu is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 A' Design Award 철상 in 소비자 전자제품 디자인 Competition Category.

철소비자 전자제품· 2025

Cobble 블루투스 스피커

by Eric Wu

Client: EW Design

A' Design Award 철상 Winner in 소비자 전자제품 Category

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View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

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The Design

About Cobble 블루투스 스피커

코블(Cobble)은 상단 표면에 인터랙티브 인터페이스를 갖춘 블루투스 북셸프 스피커입니다. 네 개의 자석식 페그를 격자판 위에 다양한 패턴으로 배치할 수 있습니다. 미리 설정된 패턴이 완성되면 스피커는 자연의 소리나 백색소음 루프와 같이 저장된 사운드 프로필을 재생합니다. 또한 코블은 연결된 기기의 오디오를 재생하는 일반 블루투스 스피커로도 사용할 수 있습니다. 페그를 놓는 행위는 바둑을 연상시키며, 짧지만 고요한 집중의 순간으로 사용자를 이끕니다. 프로토타입은 원목 케이스와 샌드블라스트 처리된 아크릴 패널, LED 라이트 스트립으로 제작되었습니다.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award 철상

Cobble 블루투스 스피커, 이 작품은 A' Design Award 철상 수상작으로, 잘 디자인된 창작물에 기대되는 전문적·산업적 요건을 충족하는 좋은 디자인에 수여되는 권위 있는 인정입니다. 철상 수상작은 창작자의 뛰어난 기술, 높은 전문성, 전문가다운 이해, 창의적 역량을 보여 줍니다. Cobble 블루투스 스피커, 이 작품은 높이 평가받고 감탄과 사랑을 받는 창작물로서 실용적이고 혁신적일 것으로 기대됩니다. 이 철상 수상 디자인은 업계 모범 사례를 통합하며 노하우와 재능으로 연결된 유능한 기술적 특성을 갖추고 있습니다. Cobble 블루투스 스피커, 이 작품은 철저함으로 존중받으며 삶의 질을 개선하여 세상을 더 나은 곳으로 만들도록 디자인되었습니다.

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