Awards & Recognition・2016-04-25

BXB Achieves Great Success Again - FUN Conference Microphone Wins the iF Design Award

Awards & Honors Download PDF [Written by / Vice President's Office]

Following last year's UFO conference microphone based on the concepts of "harmony," "perfection," and "continuity," BXB has once again stood out among 1,180 competing products at the beginning of this year with another brand-new design, the FUN conference microphone, winning the iF Design Award for two consecutive years!

Today, people are paying increasing attention to conference room decoration and equipment installation, and conference microphones are the equipment closest to and most frequently contacted by participants. Therefore, the design of conference microphones and the user experience—such as how to avoid noise and interference, and how to operate conference microphones more conveniently and flexibly—have always been the focus of BXB's product research and development. BXB always designs products from the user's perspective, combining practicality, innovation, texture, and aesthetics to create a more convenient and automated user environment.

Design Concept

BXB believes that to achieve a win-win outcome in a meeting, everyone should enter with a fair and equal mindset. Inspired by the equilateral square, BXB named the microphone "Fang" (fung, meaning square) in Chinese. The natural curves along the square's edges symbolize harmony and a non-confrontational attitude among participants. Its English name, "FUN," is phonetically similar to the Chinese name and signifies that a meeting conducted in a relaxed and engaging atmosphere will ultimately lead to a successful and fulfilling result.

Clever Design of FUN

At first glance, the design of the FUN conference microphone has a square appearance, but it is full of ingenuity. Vice President Jerry Hung, the product designer, stated that the simple, stylish, and fully functional design of FUN, combining both inner and outer qualities, subverts the established image of conference microphone products. What are the special features of FUN's design, and what kind of user experience can it bring to users?

Thoughtful design of the microphone light ring: The light ring on the conference microphone is mainly to let attendees know who is currently speaking. However, the light ring is closest to the speaker, and its glaring light can be a form of light pollution to the speaker. Therefore, BXB specially embedded the light ring inside the microphone capsule, shielded by a foam windscreen, so that the speaker is not visually affected by the light ring, while still allowing other attendees to clearly see who is speaking.

Ingenious Structural Design: Depending on the attendee's height and distance from the microphone, speakers often need to adjust the angle and direction of the gooseneck microphone. Therefore, BXB has cleverly designed and matched the weight of FUN, the structure of the gooseneck microphone, and its fixed position, allowing the microphone to be securely placed on the desktop, avoiding base wobbling and friction with the table that could cause inconvenience to users.

Smallest Desktop Footprint: During meetings, participants inevitably have a large amount of materials, stationery, and personal equipment, creating a high demand for usable desktop space. Therefore, considering the needs of participants, BXB reduced the microphone base area to return desktop space to users, increasing the front-to-back space on the table. Currently, the microphone with the smallest base area on the global market is BXB's FUN series!

Precise Voice-Activated (VOX) Startup: BXB found that many participants intuitively lean close to the microphone to speak but are not used to or forget to press the speak button, causing pauses that disrupt the smooth flow of the meeting. Therefore, the voice-activated startup function can resolve this situation. FUN's voice-activated mode can precisely identify human voices, preventing the microphone from being accidentally triggered by surrounding sound sources such as loudspeakers and applause. After speaking, the microphone can also turn off automatically, meeting the needs of automated conferences.

DSP Digital Audio Processing: To achieve the best audio pickup and convey their words more effectively to other attendees, many speakers compromise on their distance from the microphone—a situation that is even more common during standing presentations. However, this is no longer an issue when using the FUN microphone! The FUN microphone detects the speaker's volume level and automatically adjusts its pickup sensitivity, delivering the human voice with the most optimal and clearest sound quality, allowing participants to speak freely and effortlessly.

Winning the award for the FUN microphone represents the recognition of the hard work and dedication of all BXB employees, further strengthening BXB's brand value and international visibility. BXB Chairperson Wu Pei-jung and product designer Vice President Hung Chih-lin highly valued this achievement and personally traveled to Munich, Germany, to attend the iF Design Award ceremony on behalf of BXB to share the joy of winning. Vice President Hung stated: "It is no coincidence that the FUN series microphones won the iF Design Award this year. Winning this prestigious award for two consecutive years proves that BXB's R&D, design, innovation, and quality are highly recognized! We will continue to uphold the corporate spirit of Best X Best 'There is no best, only better,' refining every small detail of our products to continuously enhance customer satisfaction!"

Under the intense competition of global industrial design, BXB, under the leadership of Vice President Jerry Hung, will continue to break through and innovate in product industrial design, continuously developing more practical and aesthetic premium products, leading the public into a new way of thinking about conference microphone design.