Cobble Sepikara sa Bluetooth by Eric Wu is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 Moputso oa Tšepe oa A' Design Award in Moralo wa Disebediswa tsa Dijithale le Elektroniki Competition Category.

TšepeElektroniki ya Bareki· 2025

Cobble Sepikara sa Bluetooth

by Eric Wu

Client: EW Design

Moputso oa Tšepe oa A' Design Award Winner in Elektroniki ya Bareki Category

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View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Cobble Sepikara sa Bluetooth

Cobble ke sepikara sa Bluetooth sa shelefo ea libuka se nang le sesebelisoa sa puisano holim'a sona. Litšepe tse 'nè tsa khoheli li ka behoa ka mekhoa e fapaneng holim'a girite. Ha mokhoa o behiloeng esale pele o phethiloe, sepikara se bapala moprofaele oa molumo o bolokiloeng, joalo ka semelo sa tlhaho kapa lerata le tšoanang. Cobble hape e sebetsa joalo ka sepikara se tloaelehileng sa Bluetooth bakeng sa molumo o tsoang sesebelisoang se hokahaneng. Ho behoa ha litšepe tsena ho hopotsa papali ea lipolo ea Go 'me ho mema nako e khutšoane ea tebello e khutsitseng. Mohlala oa pele o sebelisa sekhechana sa kota, liphanele tsa acrylic tse fetotsoeng ka mocheso oa lehlabathe le lithapo tsa khanya tsa LED.

The Recognition

About the Moputso oa Tšepe oa A' Design Award

Cobble Sepikara sa Bluetooth ke mohapi oa Moputso oa Tšepe oa A' Design Award, kananelo e hlomphehang e fuoang meralo e metle e finyellang litlhoko tsa porofeshenale le tsa indasteri tse lebelletsoeng ho lintho tse hlahisitsoeng tse entsoeng hantle. Bahapi ba Tšepe ba bontša bokhoni bo boholo, bokhethehi bo phahameng, kutloisiso ea litsebi le bokhoni ba boqapi ba baqapi ba bona. Cobble Sepikara sa Bluetooth e lebelletsoe ho ba ntho e hlahisitsoeng e hlomphuoang haholo, e ratoang le e ratehang, e sebetsang le e nang le mehopolo e mecha. Moralo ona o hapileng Moputso oa Tšepe oa A' Design Award o kenyelletsa mekhoa e metle ka ho fetesisa ea indasteri mme o na le litšobotsi tsa theknoloji tse nang le bokhoni tse amanang le tsebo le talenta. Ka lebaka la botlalo ba eona, Cobble Sepikara sa Bluetooth e tšoanelehela tlhompho mme e entsoe ho fana ka ntlafatso ea bophelo e thusang ho etsa hore lefatše le be sebaka se molemo.

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