underwater communications system
outerspace worked closely with Zygo founders, Sheera Goren and Charlie Melvoin to engineer a world first waterproof communication system that streams real-time sound when you are swimming and underwater.
Sheera and Charlie are business partners with a shared passion for sports, fitness, team swimming and training. Charlie, a Harvard graduate with a Masters from Cambridge and Sheera, a UCLA School of Law graduate, have an established swim coaching and fitness business. They wanted to make swim training more interactive and interesting.
Duration
2 years
industry
expertise
RECOGNITION
Good Design Award
Their idea was to develop a communication system so they could easily coach and communicate to swimmers, during their training, from the side of the pool and potentially stream music through the system. No system had achieved this before.
Our designers and engineers reviewed an initial form design surface model and visual prototype of the Zygo headset and handset system that the cofounders had developed, and prepared a plan to get Zygo ready for production.
We devised the complete mechanical architecture, detailed the mechanical design, assisted with the electronics packaging and collaborated with a novel antenna designer.
Our design team refined the headset shape to better fit a wider range of head sizes and shapes, based on anthropometric data.
We worked together to develop Zygo’s method of waterproof construction, tooling design, construction, integration of electronics, and development of the novel antenna design.
We identified and solved problems and issues to engineer Zygo to be waterproof. The headset is designed to make it waterproof to IP68 and the handset IP 67.
Transfer to production and the ramp-up to volume production. We provided program management and integration with electronics suppliers, and developed a test plan and in production check system.
The revolutionary Zygo headset system works underwater via bone conduction. The novel antenna receives signals from the handset, wirelessly connecting the two devices. Zygo’s engineered features allow a swimming coach to talk to one or multiple swimmers with one handset and to stream music underwater. Zygo has a handset that is engineered to send signals that penetrate water and the headset can receive signals over fifty metres at a depth of two feet.
outerspace designed the charging and carry cases, a solo headset case and a larger case for ten headsets, for a swimming team. Our designers created the manuals and instructions for use.
