Orbitremote - A new frontier in remote audio control.

Barnaby Ward

Industrial Designer
Design for Manufacture
3D Modeler
KeyShot
Rhino 3D
Sketchbook

Holistically integrated into a home environment. The Orbitremote is an intuitive audio remote designed to improve the user experience of the device it is controlling.

This brief was to explore a ‘high end’ concept that would be paired with the release of the D1 Loudspeaker. Despite the project never making it into production the concept was developed to be feasible manufacturable option.
Project: Orbitremote
Disciplines: Industrial Design / Concept
Client: Orbitsound
Year: 2018
The Orbitremote was designed to be semantically understandable with a focus on intuitive controls and instinctive operation.
The Orbitremote was designed to be semantically understandable with a focus on intuitive controls and instinctive operation.

Concept & ideation

Initial direction led me to look at existing high end audio remotes and noticed a trend that involved large circular knobs detailed with premium materials. The first ideations were based around ergonomic values of shape and form.

Mechanical Design

In order to understand the assembly and construction I looked at existing products in the market that used central rotation points.
I discovered some interesting observations about the rotatary encoders and how they are used and applied this thinking to a ME design that I thought was achievable against the budget.
I was in search of the 'perfectly weighted knob'. In the end I found a heavy duty linear ball bearing paired with the right amount of silicone grease and a rotary encoder to do the trick.
The packaging concept was designed to reflect the premium nature of the remote with high quality card and eva foam. The acrylic cover allows visibility of the product instore whilst also allowing hanging in a vertical orientation with the canvas tab.
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