Today I got a chance to check out Microsoft’s HoloLens augmented reality headset at a developer demo a few floors above their flagship NYC store. I received an invite to try the thing out because I have a Microsoft developer account. I have a Microsoft developer account because I’ve done some creative work with the Kinect.

I posted another piece on Medium recently about the problems with AR and have since been giving the topic a lot of thought. I’ve got a few more AR posts in the queue.

Just a bit more preface: this post is as much about that developer demo event as it is about the hardware and the content Microsoft chose to present. I’ll justify as we go along.

There appears to be a segment of the Microsoft hardware dev team that has wizard-like powers. The Kinect 2 is superlatively excellent at what it does, and it does so at a price point (~$150 + a $50 Windows adapter) that betrays its loss-leader position in their Xbox ecosystem and has made it an indispensable tool in the world of interactive art.

As you’ll read below, the HoloLens is a more-than-adequate seminal entry into the world of high-fidelity (in contrast to the low-fi of Google Glass) augmented reality. Some smart decisions were made with the interface elements in the demos presented, and the hardware, as mentioned above, must be the creation of some kind of warlock, or shaman, or kahuna, or witch doctor, truly. Some strong medicine.

With all that said, it seems that Microsoft just can’t get out of their own way. The experience of attending this demo was cripplingly awkward, and I say this as someone who has just come back from CES, arguably the best place to get a sweaty handshake and inconsistent eye contact in the Northern hemisphere. That stuff is going to be a part of this post too, not just because it’s entertaining, but because it sheds some light on MS’s marketing angle with the thing. That’s gonna matter when AR meets the public.

AR has some dorky optics to begin with. You look like an asshole using it—an issue that must be overcome if AR is going to make it in the wild—and if Microsoft is going to lead the second charge to bring it to the public (and they could, with their reach and this amazing untethered device), I’m afraid all of AR will be seen through their dweeby lens.

There are two puns in that paragraph.

I met with the good Paul Pope the other day, in a rain squall, for rye and red wine. I drink rye.

Amidst our conversation, I was reminded of some wearable soundsystems I prototyped during my Providence days.

I envisioned car stereo systems in jacket and vest enclosures - ungrounded (and admittedly dangerous) ghetto blasters strapped to the chest and back of their users. I wanted to launch a mobile bass awareness campaign, and moreover, I wanted to have a sound source on my person for my electronic music performances as handshake.

The first, Performance Model A, was well-loved and well-used. It was 1050 denier ballistics ripstop nylon around a core of heavy mylar and neoprene. It had a tactical vest form factor with a military aesthetic.

My initial sketch for Performance Model A

A look from design partner Corey Jackson

On the shoulders, forward-facing, were cold-riveted two 3.5" speaker/tweeter combo drivers. It was driven by a car amplifier mounted on the chest and powered by two 12V, 5Ah sealed lead-acid batteries.

The result, after some sun damage and a few years kicking around closets.

The next step was to incorporate a subwoofer. But, as any 50Hz head will tell you, a sub alone does not bass make. You need an enclosure.

Departing from the tactical vest aesthetic, we decided on a combined 'backpack/vest' form factor - Performance Model B, was to be a vest, similar to Model A, but with a fiberglass sub enclosure housing an 8" subwoofer, a more powerful amplifier, and an active crossover unit to handle signal for a 5.25" chest-mounted, fiberglass-enclosed driver and two shoulder-mounted, high-firing 1" tweeters.

The sub enclosure's sub port (left) and back surface, crossover section deepest and amplifier section on top.

In the interest of weight conservation, we took the more-than-sufficient battery capacity down from 10Ah total to combined 7.4Ah over two units. Outside of that, the unit was over-engineered by design. All components were solder-welded and heatshrunk over 12awg twisted-pair wiring.

The batteries were run across a quick-disconnect harness for easier use and the sub enclosure had a kill switch embedded. It was, in a word, nice.

Sadly, though, we never finished Model B, although I've been itching to try. I still have the enclosure and electronics ready to go, but I seem to have lost track of Mr. Jackson and his luddite tendencies make him a hard man to find.

If you have an industrial sewing machine and a taste for bass, drop me a line. Maybe we'll make something of this without getting electrocuted.

HoloLens: MICROSOFT is LIKE THAT WEIRD UNCLE THAT ALWAYS HAD COOL SHIT →

WEARABLES: PERFORMANCE MODELS A + B