1. What is Ondo?
Ondo is a conceptual mobile phone for the music enthusiast who seeks to interactively capture and edit sounds.

2. What makes Ondo unique from other music phone concepts?
Going beyond software-based solutions of other products, Ondo is specifically designed to effectively collect pure sounds and is specially constructed to create a tactile sound editing experience. On a small scale, it allows the user to modify recorded sounds by physically twisting and bending the device.
On a grander scale, it creates opportunities for interactive musical creation among users at different geographical locations.

3. Why did Pilotfish develop this concept?
Pilotfish has more than 10 years of experience in designing professional music editing equipment and mobile devices. We have been actively pursuing a means to combine our knowledge of both into a single portable device. Our aim was to bring intuitive physical interaction to a mobile sound-editing device. The result is Ondo.

4. How much time did it take to develop the Ondo concept?
The fundamental idea for a music-editing phone was presented in 2006 at a Cambridge Wireless Alliance Conference. Since that time, we have created several design iterations, exploring many possible solutions in order to capture a more tactile experience in a portable device. The final design in its current shape took four months to complete, including intermediary prototypes to test the validity of the concept as well as usage scenarios.

5. When will Ondo hit the market? Will there be demo units to review?
Ondo is a design concept. Demo prototypes may be created in order to help demonstrate the benefits of the device. We at Pilotfish would be delighted to push this concept into production with interested partners.

6. Could this concept be produced from a technology standpoint? What type of materials could be used?
The technologies proposed for its construction will be available for mass-production in the near future. For the three removable “sticks” that create the main display, Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED) in combination with flat sheet power and storage would be used. For the housing that allows physical interaction through bending and twisting of the phone, flexible materials with piezoelectric properties would be employed to accurately capture and transform the physical alteration into sound effects.

7. How would music be transferred from one Ondo phone to another?
The three removable recording “sticks” have internal flash memory. This would make it possible for owners of Ondo devices to easily exchange them, allowing for convenient sharing of sound libraries. Additionally, music files can be transferred wirelessly or by using a USB cable.

8. Do you envision an ecosystem for a device like Ondo?
The advantage of such a device is that a range of services and accessories can accompany it in order to enhance the joy of sound capturing and editing. From a business perspective, most of the players in the mobile world can benefit: for example, content creators - by providing sound libraries or musical games for download; operators - by facilitating increased user interaction; and device manufacturers - by producing accessories such as input devices, Bluetooth instruments, etc.

9. What type of market is there for a device like Ondo? Why is Pilotfish launching Ondo now?
The target user for the Ondo is the music enthusiast who seeks to interactively capture and edit sounds. Going beyond software-based solutions for generic phones, it offers the mobile world a sound-dedicated tactile experience, inspired by traditional music editing equipment. The technology is now at a level to allow our vision for a tactile sound-editing experience in a mobile phone to reach market implementation.

Corporate

1. What is Pilotfish?
Pilotfish is a progressive industrial design and innovation agency specialized in electronic products. We focus on creating unique user experiences on both the emotional and rational level. Since our founding in 2000, we have grown into a multinational team of more than 25 designers, engineers, marketing and manufacturing experts catering to international brands worldwide.

2. What makes Pilotfish unique to other industrial design firms?
Our vision is to create unique user experiences by combining industrial design with an intuitive user interface. We act as an innovation hub for companies and technology providers looking for the right partners to realize these concepts in meaningful ways for end users.

3. What other concepts has Pilotfish developed?

- Onyx gesture-based touch screen phone in partnership with Synaptics – released before the iPhone, in 2006 it was the first handset prototype to introduce a fully adaptive user interface that eliminated the need for mechanical buttons and allowed for gesture-based input.

- Flexible display phone in cooperation with ITRI (Industrial Technology Research Institute) in Taiwan – released in 2008

- Vision Notebook, with customizable input interface for an enhanced multimedia experience – released 2005

4. What products has Pilotfish designed for customers?

- Consumer and Professional Electronics: mobile phones, PDAs, music-editing equipment, mobile navigation, notebooks, remote clients, TVs, digital cameras, headphones, etc

- Medical: hearing aids, intensive care patient monitors, mobile and stationary heart monitoring devices, pulmonary function laboratory, blood pressure monitors, etc.

- Transportation: scooters, in-car interaction solutions, built-in user interfaces, etc.

5. Who are Pilotfish’s customers?
Clients include Asus, Avaya, BenQ, BMW, Logitech, Heineken, HTC, Native Instruments, Mini, Siemens, Synaptics, etc.

6. Why do customers want to work with Pilotfish?
Pilotfish delivers a professional integrated service, creating a meaningful experience for users. Pilotfish offers the complete range of industrial design services, from user research to concept development, 3D modeling, prototyping and batch production. Next to award-winning design, the company also provides mechanical engineering, project management and on-site quality control for tooling and production.

7. What is Pilotfish’s vision for the future of design for consumer electronics?
Despite its recent advances, technology is still intimidating and not fully accessible for some users. We see a future where technology is more adapted to human needs and desires, more intuitive to use and more in-line with the environment. .