"Toys to Life"

Because my kids weren't quite old enough when they first hit the market, I'm didn't discover the ingenuity of the "Toys to Life" concept behind Activision's Skylander and Disney's Infinity product lines.

The basic idea behind the "Toys to Life" concept is that the consumer purchases a character figurine in-store. The figurine is then activated at home with a base platform enabling the user to play through a virtual world (game) as that character. Essentially, the value in the purchase is in the new digital content.

What makes this an interesting concept is that it creates a marriage between the ease of digital content delivery (downloading media) and the desire many consumers have to hold something tangible in their hands.

Activision and Disney have provided something tangible that kids can put on display in their rooms or show off in school. Parents and family can wrap a gift with actual dimensions beyond that of a gift card. Yet, these figurines are merely a 'place holder' for the digital content.


Why is this such an important thing for media companies?
Believe it or not, there are video game consumers that are willing to part with a few dollars just to change the skin (clothing) for an in-game character; even though, often, nothing changes functionally within the game itself. But, that only makes a select percentage of the target audience.
How can media industries adapt the "Toys to Life" model in order to target more of their adult demographic?

I've seen attempts made to provide 'uber' editions of your favorite movie with pewter figures and full sized posters included in steel, holographic, 3D embossed case, but it doesn't seem to reached the same level of mass appeal and acceptance as "Toys to Life"...
... I think media companies are missing out on something big. It is just going to take a couple of clever people to figure out how to implement it.

Dyson DC-39 Triggerhead Teardown

Introduction

For lack of a better place for me to post this instructional, I have taken to placing it on my blog.
This blog is more geared toward my passion of multimedia immersion. The type that takes you out of you surroundings and envelops you to a whole new experience. But, as a hand-on kind of guy, there are times that my adventures entail fixing 'stuff''.

Dyson DC-39 Triggerhead Teardown

The triggerhead of our DC-39 was no longer spinning. Upon inspection it appeared that the mechanisms that caused the brush to spin had seized. Curious about the possibility of tearing down the head to correct the problem, I couldn't find anything online. Instead, I embarked on my own unguided endevour to tear down the $75 unit and, as an after thought, I took pictures as I reassembled the unit.



For your convenience I have laid them out in order of disassembly. I do not know the proper terminology so I just made it up.

I spent almost three hours on this thing, but that combines looking for information online (none that I found), figuring out how to take it apart with minimal breakage, and taking pictures.

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1. With a screw driver or quarter, gently unlock the brush removal cover and remove the brush.

2. Lift the brush removal opening over the edge of the floor guard and remove. Both ends flex, so make each side work a bit so you don't snap anything.

3. Remove the six (6) T10 Torx screws from the Housing Cover.

3a. When putting the unit back together, ensure you slide the tab under the Brush Gearing Cover.

4. Remove the one Torx (smaller than T10, T7?) screw that holds the Brush Gearing Cover on. This screw is smaller in diameter than the six you removed from the Housing Cover.

4a. To remove the Brush Gearing Cover, gently lift the tab on the one side and pry the plastic away from the lip on the otherside. Be gentle!

5. Remove the two Torx (smaller than T10, T7?) screws to remove the Brush Gear

5a. I removed the spring to keep from losing it.

6. Remove the belt by orienting the exposed teeth to where the belt first meets the Brush Gear. Lift the belt off the teeth and then rotate the gear so the exposed teeth pass through the channel until the belt has been removed. In the case of my issue, I couldn't remove the belt because the shaft was not turning, so I dealt with the brush gear flapping in the wind.

7. Remove the clear plastic tube by pulling off each end. (complete removal not pictured)

8. Remove the screw holding the Valve into the base with a T10 torx wrench. You see my attempt at cutting away at the plastic to fit other tools before I found the wrench.

9. To remove the valve, first we need to lift it off its seat by pulling away and up from the outside edge. It isn't difficult, but be mindful that the valve has a tab that rests into the pictured groove.

10. Next, compress the Valve and work it off of the clear plastic Plunger Guide's arms.

11. From here we can remove the rest of the unit out of the base by tilting the entire assembly out of place. When putting back everything back together be mindful of the hose opening and rubber seals and how they should rest in the base.

12. Lift the rim of the Rubber Seal over the three tabs.

13. Then lift the plastic Plunger Guide over the assembly.

14. The rubber seal is easily removed by lifting the edge over the plastic lip.

15. Remove two torx screws (smaller the T10, all I know). Lift up on the tab to remove the two components. I unfortunately broke mine.

Be mindful of the foam. An adhesive is used to affix it in place.

16. (Post-Script - This step may not actually be necessary to remove the belt in the next step, but will remain for completeness of disassembly)
Remove the snap clip holding the 'turbine' on by grabbing it with a pair of pliers and lifting up hard. I broke my in the process, but it was still reusable. I'm sure more experienced individuals out there may have a better trick up their sleeves.

17. Lift the belt over the 'turbine' gear by working it up. Then using the same trick as in Step 6, work the belt off of the larger gear.

18. Remove the gear by inserting a small flat-head under the edge and lightly twisting back and forth to work it off. At no point does it make sense to pry because the plastic will crack. Instead, if the small screwdriver doesn't quite lift anymore, get a larger one.

Conclusion

Manually trying to spin the shaft was difficult, but I eventually got it to free up. There was still some roughness in the motion. My lack of experience tells me that a bearing might have went. I don't know for sure, but didn't feel like I could take the unit any further apart.

After reassembling the unit, I hooked it up to the vacuum, turned it on and away it went. The brush spins louder than I remember it, but over the course of a month seems to either have tapered off or I'm use to it.

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Early 2014 Headphone Progress Report

Recently I had a friend ask me, "so how are your headphones going? Are you close to production?"

This was a difficult questions to answer, but I'll try my best...

I'll start by restating that the ultimate goal is to develop a set of true surround sound headphones that are a more intuitive experience than other products on the market. The headset must also have good sound quality, be adjustable and comfortable, durable, and aesthetically represent the gamer's ambition to win.

Previous Kickstarter Campaign

I plan to use Kickstarter, a crowd funding platform that is open to all interested consumers, as an avenue for sales and distribution. I need to meet two goals before I can bring this product to the Kickstarter community.

First, I need a final prototype that demonstrates its functionality and near final aesthetics. I want their to be no question as to what the final product will look like and how it will function when removed from the box.

Version One

The second necessity is a scaling plan of manufacturing and assembly based on sales. For example, in the interest of distributing an affordable product it may be more cost-effective to bring the injection molding process in-house up to 5000 units, but beyond that point it may make more sense to out-source.

Neither of those lofty goals have been completed, but looking back on the Nathaniel Custom facebook page I can see the amazing progress that has been made towards them. As of this moment, I have a first version prototype with a functional amplifier that drives the speakers in a near-final surround sound experience.

Version Two Modeled

Where the first version falls short in sound quality, the redesign (dubbed the second version) is engineered to address these issues. In excited anticipation the second version is at the printers and is expected to arrive by the end of the month.

Snippet of Details

There are still many details that need to be worked out. Some details build upon others. For example, I've barely touched upon the comfort and aesthetics, but as the designs in functionality (surround, sound quality, adjustable) become more defined, these aspects will unfold.

By the end of the year, I can see that I will have a prototype that meets all of my function goals and a good start on the aesthetics and comfort.