14 DAY TRIAL // Merging art with technology has been a trend for years, but rarely does an actual device manage to trounce all others of its kind in such a unique set of ways as the ceramic-speaker that Nendo has put together.
Ceramic speakers aren't an altogether new idea, but the one that Nendo just showed off is probably one that will not easily be matched in more ways than one.
While the sound quality they can achieve is said to be quite high, it is not the prime asset of the new speaker.
That it uses a ceramic substrate is also not the most unusual fact about it either.
Basically, the newcomer is practically the thinnest speaker in existence, unless there are any speakers with a thickness of less than 1mm that were somehow overlooked by the press.
And as if this sheer thinness was not enough, the makers went further and made sure that the product was just as much an art form as it was a technological novelty.
It was created under a collaboration between Mitsuke Masagasu and design firm Nendo under the Revalue Nippon Project.
This project is one that strives to revive traditional Japanese art forms, but the truly interesting fact is that no sort of handcrafting is involved in the ceramic-speaker's manufacture.
Instead, it is built by a computer-controlled process, which takes the 1mm ceramic substrate slab and cuts thin slices, which it fixes with mercury vapor and mounts with a robotic arm.
“As the substrate is exposed to sight, its function-optimized surface takes on a new decorative role,” states Nendo's so-called press announcement.
“This reminds us both of the limits of the human hand, and of its infinite, unshakable attraction, providing a glimpse into the future of craft.”
Unfortunately, the ceramic speaker is not going to be mass produced, though it would probably have too high a price point to be accessible to most consumers anyway.