London, United Kingdom
Guillaume Parrin of Kokoon Technology has designed the next generation headphone set, the Kokoon NightBuds that interact with the user through an application with increasingly personalized and targeted sleep coaching.
A set of tiny sleep sensing headphones that work with a powerful integrated app to intelligently encourage, protect and improve sleep.
NightBuds’ design was awarded with the prestigious 2021 Good Design Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
Through extensive customer interviews, surveys and studies the designers analyzed the habits, anthropometrics, challenges, and wants of target customers; testing and iterating prototypes with them throughout the design journey.
Typically, headphone shape and thickness prevent comfortable wearing in bed, particularly when side sleeping.
For a stable, comfortable design, electronics were relocated from the sensitive in-ear region to a less sensitive region behind the head, typically not felt in bed.
This enables a very thin, soft profile in the ear and through night battery capacity.
To accommodate the different head and ear sizes a patent-pending flexible cable system proved a simple and robust solution that was extensively fine-tuned for comfort and lifetime durability.
The earbuds integrate sensors used by the app to personalize coaching, insights, and listening experience to their sleep in real-time.
The Kokoon Nightbuds could also be considered as the world’s first ‘skull-buds’, as they are connected to an ultra-slim battery pack that conforms to the back of the head via equally flexible spring-like cables.
Project: Nightbuds Sleep Sensing Headphones
Designers: Guillaume Parrin, Kokoon Technology
Manufacturer: Kokoon Technology
