Creative Director - Principal Industrial Designer - Strategist

While we're here...

Consider the rotary phone. Imagine the weight of the heavy plastic receiver in your hand. Now say, "Goodbye, Aunt Gertrude" and hang up. Click!

It's that clang that signified an indisputable irreversible end to a call. The satisfying mechanical definitiveness of it reassured you that the call was disconnected and you could say whatever you wanted about Aunt Gertrude. She would never know. 

Modern voice technology can leave us less certain than the rotary phone. Is there a way one device can alternate between two mutually exclusive states based on a simple intuitive gesture? And can the form communicate the two functions  in a meaningful way in each state?

Imagine a voice device you can hang up when you want to disconnect from the world.  

This concept changes form to signify function. In the active form it's a cordless voice assistant with an off-centered weight, causing it to lean forward attentively on its round bottom.

In privacy mode it rests face down on its soft translucent bezel. The bezel retracts into the body with an audibly reassuring Click. This symbolically and effectively seals off the microphones and speaker from the outside world.

A wireless charging stand provides  a stable base in both situations, but only charges in the face down disconnected mode. This creates a meaningful ritual in which both the user and the device disconnect to recharge.