Interview with Sergio Del Rio

Sergio, originally from Mexico, is our Industrial Designer at Waverly Labs and he has been designing consumer products across the globe for over a decade. After attending Singularity University, Sergio became passioned with technology and modern design and their impact on people’s lives.Sergio is answering a few questions about Pilot.

Tell us a little more about your design vision behind the ear piece?

When we first envisioned Pilot, we wanted to create a sophisticated design piece, something that made you feel proud and as organic as one could find in wearable technology.

What are some of the design specs?

First of all, tangent surfaces. This means giving a perfectly smooth continuity to the design, it’s a surface development as close as one could find into a Porsche or a Ferrari. Then, ergonomy. Creating the shape of Pilot was a very long process as we first had to study the ear itself before producing the actual design. We wanted to make sure the curves blended perfectly with the 3 common cavities of the ear in order to result in a beautifully ergonomic shape.

“It’s as if Pilot was part of your body: it has a great fit, feel and finish. The comfort is remarkable, you can even forget you are wearing it after a while.”

Pilot is also discreet. It’s neither big or intrusive. With Pilot, we aimed for a very simple design, we wanted something elegant and almost invisible, something you could wear in any given circumstances. We moved away from chrome paint, flashy colors or excessive lighting.

“For us, lights function as effective signals for the user. They are action feedbacks, like a form of communication. In fact, we always focus on efficiency for the user; we wouldn’t want to waste battery life on elements such as lighting or decorations. Less is more.”

What do you say to users who are worried the piece might not be stable?

It won’t fall. You can run, you can hide, you can move your head around. The device’s shape will anchor in your ear in three points. You can move freely while using the device, it’s very stable.

Why did you pick the colors black, white and red?

Actually, we asked a sample group to choose between several options and they picked those colors. Community is very important to us, we wanted to make sure we respond the demand. While black is elegant, sometimes formal, white is trendy and neutral. Red is bold and fun – it all works!Designing for the ear is one of the most complex challenges a designer can face. Every component has to fit, yet every ear is different in size and shape. This is quite a challenge but we have created an amazing product: Pilot is made for the user and around the user, only.[caption id="attachment_3998" align="aligncenter" width="636"]

Sergio designing the Pilot Translation Earpiece [/caption]

Stay tuned!

--Team Waverly