The Æsir Æ+Y Phone
31 May 2011
Process type: Design
The concept of renowned designer Yves Behar, Æsir’s ‘Æ+Y’ is a mixture of European watchmaking, a smidgen of a Daft Punk robot suit, and some very clinical engineering
- Concept: Behar’s vision for the Æ+Y was to create “the anti-smartphone”, simplified in its functionality to focus on voice and clarity and only allow users to talk or text: “We propose better and long-lasting as our starting criteria”
- Acoustics: The sound chamber within the Æ+Y phone was engineered for superior voice and acoustic performance with crisp clarity.
- Tradition: The phone was engineered to utilise specialised technologies and traditions, many of which are rooted in Europe, resulting in a long-lasting alternative to typical phones that are usually replaced after a few years.
- Materials: Due to the sapphire crystal’s hardness, Swiss watchmaking techniques were used to manufacture the raw crystal into a perfectly clear lens that would mate with the ceramic casing.
- Design: Designed “from the outside in” using Pro/Engineer, it took more than two and a half years to develop and over 7,000 hours of engineering time.
- Price: Get saving, the gold Æ+Y will cost you around £37,000.
- Specialism: Æsir turned to Product Development Technologies (PDT to successfully engineer the phone and its range of unique features and materials.
- Prototype: Using in-house rapid prototyping and CNC techniques, PDT developed a range of highly functional development prototypes for validation.
- Details: The edge-to-edge key alignment and keypad assembly required 20 miniature screws in order to obtain the unique movement of the keys and feel of the key press.
