Cobble Bluetooth-høyttaler by Eric Wu is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 A' Design Award i Jern in Digital og elektronisk enhetsdesign Competition Category.

JernForbrukerelektronikk· 2025

Cobble Bluetooth-høyttaler

by Eric Wu

Client: EW Design

A' Design Award i Jern Winner in Forbrukerelektronikk Category

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Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #167221

View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Cobble Bluetooth-høyttaler

Cobble er en Bluetooth-hylleforsterker med et interaktivt grensesnitt på toppflaten. Fire magnetiske plugger kan plasseres i forskjellige mønstre på et rutenett. Når et forhåndsdefinert mønster er fullført, spiller høyttaleren en lagret lydprofil, som en natur- eller hvit støy-loop. Cobble fungerer også som en vanlig Bluetooth-høyttaler for lyd fra en tilkoblet enhet. Plasseringen av pluggene minner om brettspillet Go og inviterer til et kort øyeblikk med stille konsentrasjon. Prototypen bruker et trekabinett, sandblåste akrylpaneler og LED-lysstriper.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award i Jern

Cobble Bluetooth-høyttaler er vinner av A' Design Award i Jern, en prestisjefylt anerkjennelse som tildeles gode design som oppfyller de profesjonelle og industrielle kravene man forventer av veldesignede skaperverk. Jernvinnere viser stor dyktighet, høy spesialisering, ekspertforståelse og kreativ kapasitet hos skaperne. Cobble Bluetooth-høyttaler forventes å være et høyt ansett, beundret og verdsatt skaperverk som er praktisk og nyskapende. Dette designet, som har vunnet A' Design Award i Jern, integrerer bransjens beste praksis og har kompetente tekniske egenskaper knyttet til kunnskap og talent. Cobble Bluetooth-høyttaler respekteres for sin grundighet og er utformet for å gi forbedringer i livskvalitet som bidrar til å gjøre verden til et bedre sted.

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