Iron Audio and Sound Equipment Design · 2023
Birdy Speaker
- A' Design Award 2023 Iron Winner in Audio and Sound Equipment Design
- Awarded April 15, 2023
- CLIENT: Zhejiang University
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 16,542
- Verification code 0A48B07537 · Verify this award
About Birdy Speaker
Birdy is a speaker with a bird-shaped control stick that allows music playback to be managed by hand. The lower part is a cone-shaped speaker with two 5W drivers and a dual-channel class D amplifier. A joystick sensor at the top of the cone detects movement of the bird figure on both axes. Swinging the bird figure forward or backward adjusts the volume, while swinging it left or right selects the previous or next song. Birdy also works as a smart home assistant that responds to bird calls. The design is intended to create a natural and emotional connection between people and technology.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Birdy provides a more engaging way to control music playback. With its bird-shaped game stick, users can interact with their music in a unique and interesting way, making the experience feel more natural and intuitive. Designed to emulate the experience of touching and interacting with a live creature, Birdy provides a refreshing departure from traditional, lifeless speakers.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- The full height of the product is 316mm. The bottom cone speaker is 250mm high and the maximum diameter is 142mm.
- Tags
- Speaker, Emotional design, Bird, Bionics, Natural
- Production Technology
- The speaker features two 5W drivers with a dual-channel class D amplifier. On the top of the cone is a joystick sensor that detects the movement of the bird above it in both XY axes, thus controlling the music playback.
- Design Challenge
- The biggest challenge of the design is how to give an emotional connection to a technological artifact. We were inspired by the interaction between humans and birds, where birds have a natural connection to music. This led us to design Birdy, a speaker that offers a more natural and intuitive way to interact with technology, bridging the gap between the digital and physical worlds.
- Project Duration
- The project started in March 2021 in Qingdao and finished in September 2022 in Ningbo.
- Operation Flow
- Users can control their music playback by swinging the bird-shaped game stick at the top, similar to a joystick. Swinging the bird backward or forward adjusts the volume, while swinging it left or right skips to the previous or next song. Additionally, Birdy is also a smart home assistant that responds to different bird calls.
- Research
- People communicate emotionally with their pets and we have studied various interactions between people and their pets and found that we were inspired by the interaction between humans and bird pets, where on the one hand birds have a natural connection to music and on the other hand their physical interaction between human and birds can be extracted as a way to control the music.
- Inspiration
- The design of Birdy is inspired by the way bird breeders often stroke and interact with their pets. The bird is located at the top and the bottom is a conical speaker. It is designed to foster emotional connections between users and the device, creating a more natural and seamless user experience.
- Image Credits
- Xin An