Consumer Electronics
·
2025
Murmur
A speaker that disappears onto a bookshelf.
Materials
Wool · Anodised aluminium · Single control
Role
Research, industrial design, CAD, prototyping
01
The problem, the user and what I learned
Most compact speakers are designed to be looked at. In real homes they are pushed between books and plants, where glossy plastic looks cheap.
A short diary study with six households showed speakers were adjusted mostly for volume and pause. Every other control lived in an app. The product only needed one physical gesture.
02
On site Approval
Sketches ranged from a fabric cube to a stone‑like pebble. The cylinder survived because it reads as an object rather than a gadget, and wraps in wool without seams on show.
The single aluminium crown came from exploring how a turn and a press could live in one part. Three foam models fixed the diameter so the crown fits a cupped hand.
04
Issue at site
A 2.5 inch full‑range driver and passive radiator sit in a glass‑filled ABS enclosure. The crown is machined aluminium on a rotary encoder with a central tactile switch.
The wool sleeve is a knitted tube bonded to a thin ABS liner so it can be replaced. All electronics are accessible from a single bottom plate held by four screws.
05
One gesture
06
Where the project stands
Murmur exists as a working electronics breadboard and two appearance models. It was exhibited at the NCAD graduate show.
A DFM review with a contract manufacturer is the next step, focused on the sleeve bonding process and crown tolerance.