Constraints on design: Fighting limitations with innovation

A tiny chip made of a smart material called Terfenol-D expands and contracts thousands of times a second inside the Soundbug, a gadget aimed at youngsters with MP3 players that will turn windows or other flat surfaces into loudspeaker diaphragms.

We could have put the chip into a box with the shape and size of a matchbox, and then designed the product around that,” says Brian Smith, managing director of FeOnic, the UK company behind the Soundbug and other products working on the same basic principle. “Or we could say, let’s not commit to that, but let’s define what we want, and establish the engine shape that fits into it.”