https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lumio/teno-sound-in-a-new-light
Kintsugi is the art of mending broken ceramics using gold to seal the cracks… but what if the cracks were celebrated as a design detail instead? What if the cracks revealed something even beautiful underneath? The Teno lamp + speaker’s reveal is as poetic as life emerging from behind cracked egg-shells. The lamp-speaker uses a cracked exterior that gently separates into two. As the crack widens, you begin to the signs of life underneath as the lamp below is revealed, shining through the cracks with its life-affirming message of hope… but Teno isn’t just a lamp, it’s a Bluetooth speaker too!
Designed to look more artistic and sculpturally beautiful than any lamp or Bluetooth speaker you’ve ever seen, Teno is truly about the beauty within. The outer surface comes in the shape of a hemisphere with a crack running through its center (the crack’s even edge-painted gold for added flair). Separate the two halves of the hemisphere, and a lamp within automatically switches on, creating perhaps one of the most unusually pleasing interactions of all time. Pull the halves further apart, and you switch on the Bluetooth speaker within, allowing your light to come to life with sound too!
There’s something clearly very nourishing about Teno’s design. It isn’t conventional by a stretch, and the very idea was to create a work of art that speaks to you emotionally, rather than being just another fancy lamp or speaker with great specs. Designed by Max Gunawan, who also created the wildly popular Lumio book-shaped lamp that won multiple design awards (including the Red Dot and Good Design Award) and was inducted into the Museum of Modern Art, Teno shares a lot of the same values as its book-light sibling. Its non-traditional design aside, Teno is all about how you interact with it. The bowl-shaped outer body comes cast in resin and sand, deviating entirely from the plastic, fabric, and metal you’d find in other lamps and speakers. There’s truly a sense of wonder and childlike curiosity about separating the two halves to reveal the lamp and speaker within, which goes above and beyond turning lamps on with switches, or saying ‘Hey Alexa’ to make your speaker play music to you. Teno isn’t designed to look like a high-tech mass-produced item. It feels almost precious and relic-like, and that crack running across its center reinforces the idea of Kintsugi, that old, or broken products shouldn’t necessarily be replaced by new ones, and that there’s magic in imperfections – an idea that clearly shines through with Teno.
Within the heart of Teno, underneath its two-piece shell, sits a 250 lumens lamp that emits a warm glow, enough to wash a room with ambient light. The upper surface is touch-responsive, allowing you to tap the top to change its brightness, and a discreet hub of magnetic contact-points below lets you charge the Teno using a proprietary charger. Under the lamp sits a powerful 45mm full-range audio driver that pumps rich sound through the high-grade acoustic fabric when the bowl is fully open. Teno comes with Bluetooth 5.0, letting you connect your phone to play music or answer calls. You can slide your finger gradually up and down the side of the bowl to control playback volume (it’s much more enjoyable than pressing those volume buttons on your phone, I assure you), or tap the top of the bowl to answer a call. Teno even comes with a built-in noise-canceling microphone to let you have hands-free conversations accompanied by crisp audio from that massive 45mm driver.
Just like the Lumio Book Lamp, Teno reinvents and reimagines a regular product that we take for granted. It is, no doubt, the culmination of a lot of tech on the inside that work together to create the seamless experience you see in the video above, but ultimately the Teno tries to convey a message that has depth, unlike products from Apple, Google, and Amazon which are literally designed to go obsolete annually, as new models launch each year. Designed to last, Teno tries to create a new sort of relationship with its user. By echoing the philosophies of Kintsugi, and by being just so radically different in its approach, Teno hopes to break the cycle of yearly upgrades, giving a product you fall in love with each day, and cherish for years to come!
Designer: Max Gunawan of Lumio
Click Here to Buy Now: $240 $300 ($60 off). Hurry, less than 24 hours left! Raised over $370,000.
Teno by Lumio: Sound in a New Light
Teno is a beautifully crafted bowl sculpture made from natural sand. When cracked open, it comes alive; revealing soft, warm light that you can adjust with a simple tap. When fully open, it’s a powerful speaker, releasing a rich sound that you control through touch.
Features & Benefits
A New Aesthetic – Lumio designed Teno with an entirely different look and feel in mind: a celebration of the perfection in the imperfect. The world doesn’t need any more sleek plastic surfaces.
High-quality Sound – Teno is equipped with a powerful 45mm full-range driver that delivers deep bass and crystal-clear treble… all from an unseen source, emanating almost magically with the soft glow of this unusual bowl sculpture.
Intuitive & Unique design – Teno is designed to delight. You crack it open to switch it on. It comes alive with intuitive finger gestures. Piece it back together to turn it off.
Tactile & Durable – The textured natural sand on the outside feels like you’re holding a piece of nature in your hands, while the hard inner shell provides the durability and precision that its technology requires.
Defies Obsolescence – Teno is designed to be timeless. And unlike so many products marketed today, it develops the kind of patina that only makes it more beautiful over the years.
Portable – At 5” in diameter, Teno fits neatly in the palm of your hand. It’s small enough to be portable but substantial enough to feel solid.
Designed To Connect – Far from being another distracting piece of technology, Teno is for connecting with yourself and with your environment. Hold it in your hands and its vibrations impart a meditative feel — we like to think of it as modern interpretation of a sound bowl. Its radiant light creates the kind of calming atmosphere we could all use a little more of.
Design Inspiration
“This project began with a walk in the forest. On this day a few years ago, I found myself surrounded by the sounds of nature, birds chirping and water streaming in the distance — without seeing where they were coming from. It felt magical. I went home and got to work.
I set about creating a speaker that employed a similar magic, hiding the source of its sound. I found myself inspired by kintsugi, the Japanese art of piecing together broken parts rather than throwing them away. The technology is unexpectedly revealed as you break the object and piece it back together.
I want to break the cycle of yearly upgrades and obsolescence. I want to focus instead on delight, beauty, and quiet joy — that feeling that I get when I drink my morning coffee from an old ceramic cup that’s only gotten more beautiful over time. Teno is very much inspired by this idea of hanging on to the few precious pieces that we have at home.” Max Gunawan – Founder of Lumio
Teno in Action – How to Use It
Super Simple & Intuitive – Teno responds to different finger movements across its surface. No instructions needed. Simply break open the shell to turn on the light. Separate the shell fully to activate the speaker. Piece the shell back together to turn it off.
Seamless Music Streaming – Crack the shell fully open to turn on the speaker and stream your favorite music directly from your phone.
Tap To Adjust Light Brightness – Tap the center top surface to activate the dimmer. There are four levels of brightness to choose from.
Slide Up & Down for Volume – Slide your fingers up and down along the curve of the bowl to control the volume.
Tap To Recieve A Call – Tap the top surface closer to the edge to receive and end a call.
Magnetic Charging – Simply place the discreet charger under the bowl and the magnetic charging head will snap into place. An indicator light signals that it’s charging.
Hi-definition Sound & Microphone – Enjoy crystal-clear voice calls with a built-in high definition noise-cancelling microphone for those online meetings and hands-free calls.
True Wireless Stereo – Enjoy a true wireless stereo experience by pairing two Teno together. You can listen to your music with twice the volume, without the need of any apps. Easily pair two Teno by simply double-tapping the base.
Powerful Sound, Compact Form
Teno is equipped with a state-of-the-art bluetooth 5.0 chip and a 10W class-D amplifier to deliver the most powerful sound while keeping distortions to an absolute minimum. The sound is finely tuned using the advanced DSP technology which allows for a more balanced and comfortable listening experience for all types of music. All this combined with the highest quality neodymium full-range driver and a custom made passive radiator, Teno allows for amazing highs, crystal-clear mid ranges, and a deep powerful bass.
Click Here to Buy Now: $240 $300 ($60 off). Hurry, less than 24 hours left! Raised over $370,000.