Cobble Bluetooth-колонка by Eric Wu is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 Железная премия A' Design Award in Дизайн цифровых и электронных устройств Competition Category.

ЖелезнаяБытовая электроника· 2025

Cobble Bluetooth-колонка

by Eric Wu

Client: EW Design

Железная премия A' Design Award Winner in Бытовая электроника Category

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View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

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The Design

About Cobble Bluetooth-колонка

Cobble — это полочная Bluetooth-колонка с интерактивным интерфейсом на верхней поверхности. Четыре магнитных фишки можно размещать на сетке в различных комбинациях. Когда заданная комбинация собрана, колонка воспроизводит сохранённый звуковой профиль, например, звуки природы или циклический белый шум. Cobble также работает как обычная Bluetooth-колонка, воспроизводя аудио с подключённого устройства. Расстановка фишек напоминает настольную игру го и располагает к короткому моменту тихой сосредоточенности. В прототипе использованы деревянный корпус, панели из пескоструйного акрила и светодиодные ленты.

The Recognition

About the Железная премия A' Design Award

Cobble Bluetooth-колонка — лауреат Железной премии A' Design Award, престижного признания, присуждаемого хорошим проектам, которые отвечают профессиональным и промышленным требованиям, ожидаемым от хорошо продуманных творений. Обладатели Железной премии демонстрируют большое мастерство, высокую специализацию, экспертное понимание и творческие способности их авторов. Ожидается, что Cobble Bluetooth-колонка станет высокоценимым, вызывающим восхищение и дорогим сердцу творением, практичным и инновационным. Этот проект, получивший Железную премию A' Design Award, интегрирует лучшие отраслевые практики и обладает компетентными техническими характеристиками, сочетающимися с ноу-хау и талантом. Благодаря основательности Cobble Bluetooth-колонка заслуживает уважения и создан для того, чтобы улучшать качество жизни, помогая сделать мир лучше.

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