Breakdown of the beatjazz system: The “Afro” Helmet

there are 19 days left to help fund the building of the Beatjazz system.  for the rest of the campaign, i will be doing a detailed breakdown of each aspect of the system and describing exactly why its in there, what it does and how much it will cost to implement.  today i will begin with the literal "crown" of the system; the Afro Helmet

The AFRO helmet serves multiple purposes. some functional and some symbolic.  symbolically, it serves as tribute to imagery that was so inspirational in my youth.  Kareem Abdul Jabar in "Games Of Death" was such an amazing visual in my youth.  as was Shaft.  even recent the absolutely perfect afro that Micheal Jai White sported in "Black Dynamite" was actually a reference image in the design process. the afro in american culture is a symbol of pride from an era that sought to define and refine identity and has inspired me as a symbol of the past and the future.

As a design metaphor, It has the benefit of serving the dual purpose of being a really good place to store things.  most of the components of the wearable aspects of the beatjazz system, will fit easily within a reasonably sized design.  To keep the weight down, the entire 3 piece shell of the helmet will be constructed from carbon fiber which has the added benefit of looking INCREDIBLE.

weight is a concern.  most helmets are for protection.  this helmet is for system convergence.  the internal systems will all be housed inside the helmet with only wireless access to the outside world, not including the charging system.  those internal systems include a linux based pc, a surround sound headphone system, a "terminator vision" style goggle display system, dual throat mics, laser projection and a brain interface. here is a run down of each and the total cost of development.

first is the integrated computer system.  i am looking at a system that is assembled by a company called fit PC.  the Tiny PC includes, networking, surround sound, usb, and battery power abilty in a computer that is about 4 inches square. it runs an atom processor up to 2ghz (overkill...maybe), up to 2gb ram and solid state memory.  i will need to investigate multiple models to get a good idea of the proper processing-power-to-battery-usage ratio.

instead of monitors, i will build a set of goggles with integrated displays.  the displays i have sourced are from a company called Emagin. http://www.emagin.com/optics/ they are high resolution and will interface with the computer as the monitor.  the computer system will run linux in "NO-GUI" mode, meaning that it will boot up without an interface and go straight to my pure data based control and  visualization system.  these displays are "see thru" so the interface will overlay on top of reality and allow me to see my parameters without having to look at them...i will look "through" them.

the computers onboard surround sound system will be used as the basis of the immersive monitoring system.  since i will not be taking the helmet off, it will be important to be able to hear where sound is coming from, so the helmet will have an integrated gyroscope that will control tell the computer where a sound is coming from and where it should go when i perform.  The reason the headphones are so large is that there is a 3 speaker array for each ear, similar but larger than this illustration. one small speaker approximately 3-4cm in front of the ear, one 1-2cm behind the ear and a "center channel" where the normal headphone speaker usually is. together, this array of 6 total speakers will form a 5:1 surround system;front, back, center(mono).

that makes up the basic interface of the helmet.  the combination of these element and the fact that heat dissipates from the top of the head, there is a full fan ventilation system.  one fan for blwing air into the helmet and through a ventialtion system that will distribute the air flow evenly over the head and to the ears and goggles, and one small fan for sucking air out so there is always fresh airflow. 

these systems will lay the foundation for the beatjazz control system.  the goggles will provide visual feedback of all parameters in the system.  the hand units will wirelessly connect to associated trancievers in the helmet. and the mouthpiece for the controller is integrated into a "jawbone"-esque chin construct which will provide perfect mouthpiece placement. 
just below the mouthpiece will be two throat microphones.  these will serve the dual purpose of allowing the ability to sing from anywhere in a venue, even in front of the speakers, on the dancefloor, and the ability to sing and play simultaneously!!  i have already begun to code this capability in the beatjazz software suite i am working on. 
there will be an integrated laser projection system that will project a circle around me when i play on the dance floor that will create a sort of "stage" area that will be reminiscent of the circle that surrounds players in football video games.  this circle will also be able to project animated text.  the emitters will be located just below and infront of each ear as well as the back of the head.

and the most interesting part of the helmet systems will be a transcrannial direct current stimulation system which bascially is a technique for using electrodes to send a minute electrical signal to specific areas of the brain, through contact with the scalp, to excite the neurons in that area of the brain.  there has been a great amount of interest and excitement in this area of research with some studies showing brain functioning improvements that last for weeks and months in some cases.  my system will be based on sending pulse-width signals from a small arduino and controlling it using pure data so i can turn it on and off from the beatjazz controller.  i am very curious as to the effects of brainwave stimulation from within a completely immersive musical performance environment.  

I estimate that I should be able to source all the components and personnel to create the helmet for approximately $8-10,000.  these components include but are not exclusive to;

the heads up display optics
the goggle optics (lenses that will be what give the goggles a goggles/sunglasses look)
carbon fiber and tooling
the computers, and the custom mounting parts to afix it to the interior of the helmet
CAD software to design everything (the cost would be upwards of 5 times as much and take 5 times as long otherwise)
designing the ventilation system
the tDCS electrode design
PCB design to integrate all of the helmet systems
studio quality 1-2cm speakers
studio quality 3-5cm speakers
custom mounting for the aural array
milling for the aluminum surround array
spools of plastic for the 3d printer to create parts that don't need to be milled (non-stresspoint parts)
laser sub systems
studio quailty microphones that need custom sealed throat mic enclosures.

this is not a full list.  simply the hit points. aspects will change overitme. if you want a more detailed list i can provide that to you.  and as with the other aspects, once the design is stable, i will release the notes, plans, CAD files, and software as open source.  I feel that if i build as much as humanly possible, myself, i can save money and create something much more quickly than if i try to get third parties to do the work for me.  besides, i really enjoy learning how all of these things work.  learning is a big part of the reason for this project in the first place.

So This makes up the basis of the afro helmet system.  all musical, visual, and spatial data will then be sent over wifi to a "server" computer that will be connected to sound system, lights, projectors, etc.  i will go into more detail on that system tomorrow.  If you would like to help fund the project check out the perks on offer over at www.indiegogo.com/beatjazzsystem

Art imitates art; What the Campaign Contributor Beatjazz controller will look likeCountdown to debut presentation (yay!) and party (eekk!) this saturday.

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