Swift Creatives recently unveiled SHEET Speaker, a future study of current audio trends, re-focusing on sound quality and nostalgic interfaces as key features. The concept combines the premium audio offering of high-end speakers with the convenience provided by the voice assistant consumer experience. With its design inspired by both professional music equipment and Scandinavian furniture, SHEET is a speaker that fits seamlessly into the home whilst still emphasizing the quality of its sound capabilities.
"The market has been flooded with small smart speakers over the last couple of years, but these tend to have limited sound quality," commented Carsten Eriksen, co-CEO from Swift Creatives. "By 2022, voice assistant technology will be commonplace. When this happens, we expect there to be a huge demand for better sound and this is what spawned our design of SHEET. It is essentially a future study of the speaker market."
The 12.8cm slim, 1m high and super premium SHEET incorporates tangible interfaces, a thing of the past in the smart speaker market, as Swift believe they add to the user experience. A slider on the top corner of the speaker can be controlled either manually, via the app or through voice command to change the volume. This interface was inspired by sliders in music studio mixing desks. The aptly named speaker's appearance is much like that of a sheet of fabric, leaning casually against a wall or balanced on the floor, similar to many Scandinavian products for the home. However, when playing music, the front of the speaker transforms - a circular area around the woofer extends outwards by nearly an inch to make room for its oscillations and to enhance the sound. The active area is also further highlighted by a subtle ring of light.
"Audio products used to have really slick physical interfaces such as buttons and dials, but these seemed to disappear with the rise of the smart speaker," Eriksen added. "We wanted to intensify the interaction and product experience by introducing tangible interfaces that blend the physical and the digital. Bringing these older qualities back in a modern way really gives SHEET a lot of attitude and character. We truly believe that products like this will be the future of smart speakers."
