SUSTech Design Student Jiang Hanxi’s “Calina” Electric Kalimba Secures Patents in China, Japan, EU, and US Jiang Hanxi (Hannah), an undergraduate student and member of the Design Cybernetics Group at the School of Design, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), has successfully obtained product and design patents for her graduation project “Calina” — an innovative electric kalimba — in China, Japan, the European Union, and the United States.
Calina is a contemporary, electric re-interpretation of the traditional kalimba (thumb piano), completed under the supervision of Prof. Thomas Fischer at the SUSTech School of Design. The project emerges from the Design Cybernetics Group’s interdisciplinary research tradition, embedding cybernetic thinking into product development practice and exploring new possibilities for traditional musical instruments in the digital age.
Prof. Thomas Fischer leads the Design Cybernetics Group at the SUSTech School of Design. He holds dual doctorates — a PhD in Education from the University of Kassel and a PhD in Architecture from RMIT University — and brings over twenty-five years of international teaching and research experience in design computing, design cybernetics, and digital media. Under his guidance, the Design Cybernetics Group’s research spans human-computer interaction, computational geometry, and speculative product development. Jiang Hanxi’s Calina project is a direct product of this research lineage.
Calina’s design insight stems from a rising user demographic: energetic, fun-loving, slow-living people who seek fulfillment in online content creation and domestic happiness. For them, music is not merely performance — it is a medium for self-expression and family interaction. Calina’s core competitive advantage lies in a unique combination of product qualities: affordability, portability, gentleness on noise-sensitive neighbors, and an exceptionally low learning curve. In today’s entry-level musical instrument market, products that simultaneously satisfy all these conditions are exceedingly rare.
In form, Calina adopts an ergonomic form factor resembling a handheld game controller, fusing the playing experience of the traditional kalimba with the grip logic of a gamepad. It is, at its essence, a quiet electric musical instrument. Users can practice privately or produce digital music through a headphone jack, making it particularly suited to creators in high-density living environments.
The traditional kalimba, a lamellophone with roots in sub-Saharan Africa spanning thousands of years, has gained global popularity in recent years among light music and short-video creators due to its compact portability and ethereal tone. Calina preserves the kalimba’s “easy to learn” DNA while re-anchoring it in contemporary digital content creation through an electronic, controller-inspired design language.
The patents secured by Calina in China, Japan, the EU, and the US cover both product design and design (ornamental) protection. Japanese design gazette records show that the registered design number is 1797944, with the article name “電子カリンバ” (Electronic Kalimba) and the design right holder listed as Southern University of Science and Technology. For an undergraduate graduation project to obtain intellectual property protection across four major jurisdictions is not only an institutional validation of the design’s originality but also a testament to the effectiveness of the SUSTech School of Design’s studio-based practice model and industry-oriented teaching philosophy. Calina’s patent strategy was global from the outset, targeting major consumer markets — consistent with the Design Cybernetics Group’s positioning of “leveraging Shenzhen’s digital design and manufacturing ecosystem while connecting to international industry networks.”
From the African roots of the kalimba, to Shenzhen’s electronics manufacturing ecosystem, to a product positioning aimed at global “slow-living” creators — Calina’s journey is just beginning, and we are looking for partnerships to develop this project further.
