MOTOW
Port-less. Button-less. Free.
2017
Design Intuition
The beginning of Motow started during my high school time. I was instantly inspired by Nest’s Thermostat while shopping at a BestBuy. I thought:
That’s how a headphone experience should be, a buttonless, gesture based logic of interaction.
When people are using headphones, they can’t see the buttons, yet there are so many of them, and it would always be a difficult experience until user’s muscle memory can indicate each button’s location and function.
Therefore, Motow was designed to override.
Early Ideations (2017)
Simplifying the Experience
At early stages of this concept, I was trying to make Motow a complete, smooth music experience connecting seamlessly from outdoor to indoor.
My first attempt was to make a seamlessly paring set of headphones and home speaker co-working with each other, which I struggled with and abandoned at last.
Eventually I came back to focus on the physical headphone experience, and what I learned from Nest thermostat was the entire product being a button.
Sketches (2017)
Truely Free Adjustment
Each side of the ear puffs is attached to the headband magnetically at a free folding hinge. This spherical hinge allows ear puffs to rotate 360 degrees and fold in to any angles, maximizing comfort while wearing and convenience while storing.
Defining the Concept (2017)
KeyShot Rendering (2020)
The magnetic detachable hinge also made repair/replacement and swap of colors easier than ever before.
Natural Gesture Control
The control on Motow is physical and direct. There’s no virtual buttons nor gesture sensors. The real spinning wheel and the large physical button on Motow provide feedback with confidence.
Motow automatically pauses when taken off of head. When folded, Motow turns off its power. To turn it back on, simply unfold.
It’s that simple.
Rendered Instruction
Purposeful Materials
Parts that directly or potentially contact with the skin are made of friendly, quality materials.
Ear pads are wrapped with lamb skin, giving a soft, gentle sense of comfort. The rings are ceramic coated, which makes every rotation a warm, familiar touch. The glass for the circular pads made them possible to receive wireless power while remaining an elegant temperament.
Aluminum headband exposes its strength, insinuates its magnetic functions, and creates a beautiful contrast of warm and cool materials with the lamb skin.
Get Rid of the Cables
Then What?
Contributors
Products nowadays are so fully packed with additional features. Rice cookers are designed to cook literally everything, same situation for microwaves. Toothbrushes are getting “smart” with Apps that’ll do a million things. The problem is that sometimes additional actions are required to activate those additional features, and it’s a waste of time to figure out how to activate unnecessary features (or features that the company made users think they’re valuable).
It is time for us to get rid of those too.
Industrial Design: Ke Zheng
Year: 2017