Cobble Kelliem Bluetooth by Eric Wu is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 Premju A' Design Award tal-Ħadid in Disinn ta' Apparati Diġitali u Elettroniċi Competition Category.

ĦadidElettronika tal-Konsumatur· 2025

Cobble Kelliem Bluetooth

by Eric Wu

Client: EW Design

Premju A' Design Award tal-Ħadid Winner in Elettronika tal-Konsumatur 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 Kelliem Bluetooth

Cobble huwa kelliem Bluetooth għall-ixkaffa tal-kotba b'interfaċċa interattiva fuq il-wiċċ ta' fuq tiegħu. Erba' xkabex manjetiċi jistgħu jitqiegħdu f'diversi disinji fuq gradilja. Meta jitlesta disinn ippreżettat, il-kelliem idoqq profil ta' ħoss maħżun, bħal ċiklu ta' ħsejjes tan-natura jew ħoss abjad. Cobble jaħdem ukoll bħala kelliem Bluetooth normali għall-awdjo minn apparat konness. It-tqegħid tax-xkabex ifakkar fil-logħba tal-bord Go u jistieden mument qasir ta' konċentrazzjoni kwieta. Il-prototip juża kaxxa tal-injam, pannelli tal-akriliku bblastjati bir-ramel, u strixxi ta' dawl LED.

The Recognition

About the Premju A' Design Award tal-Ħadid

Cobble Kelliem Bluetooth huwa rebbieħ tal-Premju A' Design Award tal-Ħadid, rikonoxximent prestiġjuż mogħti lil disinji tajbin li jissodisfaw ir-rekwiżiti professjonali u industrijali mistennija minn ħolqien imfassal tajjeb. Ir-rebbieħa tal-Ħadid juru l-ħila kbira, l-ispeċjalizzazzjoni għolja, il-fehim espert u l-kapaċità kreattiva tal-ħallieqa tagħhom. Huwa mistenni li Cobble Kelliem Bluetooth ikun ħolqien imqabbar ħafna, mammirat u maħbub li huwa prattiku u innovattiv. Dan id-disinn rebbieħ tal-Ħadid jintegra l-aħjar prattiki tal-industrija u għandu karatteristiċi tekniċi kompetenti marbuta mal-għarfien u t-talent. Cobble Kelliem Bluetooth huwa rispettat għall-eżattezza tiegħu u mfassal biex itejjeb il-kwalità tal-ħajja u jgħin jagħmel id-dinja post aħjar.

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