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.

Medieval Settlements & Cities

What are Medieval Settlements & Cities?
Medieval Settlements & Cities (MS&C) are improved, custom designed game pieces compatible with the popular board game Settlers of Catan by Klaus Teuber.

Where can I get them?
The game pieces are currently discontinued for reasons outlined in the 'conclusion'. When a new version becomes available they can be purchased through my blog here.

How are they made?
MS&C are made with two-part, urethane, plastic resins cast into silicon, rubber molds.

Development Timeline

Prior to MS&C I had been working on another project that I considered quite ambition and decided that I needed something a bit more toned down to gain some experience with the "concept-to-reality" process. 

June 2011 - Design Concepts
I pitched, to some friends and family, the idea of redesigning the game pieces to Settlers of Catan. After some preliminary brainstorming, I drew up some concept sketches. As the details came into focus dozens of sketches followed.

June 2011 - Sept. 2011 - 3D Modeled
From those sketches I used Blender, an open-source 3D modeling software, to model the first designs of the MS&C.

Sept. 2011 - 3D Printed
From the evergrowing selection of 3D printing service providers I depended on a company that was able to reproduce the small scale details of my pieces. I then fabricated a mold of the 3D printed model. From the mold I cast copies of the original model using two-part mixed, urethane, plastic resins.

The resulting casts for the first version of the Medieval Settlement were riddled with bubbles, plagued with decapitated trees, and had very little semblance to a desolate country side with a up and coming town.


Oct 2011 - Revised art direction
The initial design concept behind the Medieval Settlement was of scaling the scenery, within the piece, to that of the game board scale to give players the impression of being a governing figure or 'god-like' entity. This good-intended choice resulted in details that were too small to appreciate from an arms-length, the distance players would sit from the board, so a new art direction was taken.

This new design took on a magnified look. Instead of viewing the landscape and its accompanying buildings in its entirety, a 'snippet' of the details were presented at larger scale. As a result, the details were better appreciated not only under close examination, but at a distance as they inhabited the island game board. The new artistic concept was immediately applied to the Medieval City.

Jan. 2012 - March 2012 - Crowdfunding through KickStarter
Through Crowdfunding I was able to gauge the interest level in MS&C and raise the funds needed to solve the bubble issue. In addition, the second version of the Medieval City was printed (first version was never printed).

April 2012 - Supporter funded equipment
With the pledged funds I was able to purchase the vacuum and pressure chamber assemblies that I needed to reduce the problematic bubbles and improve the overall quality of the pieces. A big thank you goes out to all those that showed their support financially through KickStarter.

May 2012 - Reselected materials
Production was slow and painful as I was having great difficulty separating the cities from their molds. After consulting with Danielle Hurley at http://www.danielle-hurley.com/ I selected a different product that made a world of difference. The new material not only released the casts easier, but was also faster to fabricate molds with.



Sept. 2012 - KickStarter pledges fulfilled
The last of the pledges were fulfilled. I sent out over 3500 pieces to eight different countries. I was overjoyed to see each and every package go out the door... not in relief, but in excitement for the awaiting recipient.

Conclusion

Medieval Settlements & Cities was a thrilling and eye-opening project. The joy of making a product from concept-to-reality and distributing them into the hands of others that share the same interest was a wonderful experience. The skills and techniques learned along the way are invaluable toward my pursuit of producing new products.

Despite all the trials that were overcome the cost of production took its toll. The technique used to fabricate the pieces was timely and in turn unforgiving of mistakes. From early on I had my sights on an alternative technique that involved more specialized equipment. Though it was outside of the scope of the initial project it is still a goal of mine. As the future of Nathaniel Custom unfolds, the acquisition of new equipment will make it possible to re-position Medieval Settlements & Cities to where they can be available to more eager fans.

Obtaining Acoustic Immersion

When friends and family see me working on my CAD drawings or the mess of electronic components *neatly* laid out on the coffee table, they just have to ask what I'm doing. I usually respond with a cheerful, "I'm building my own headphones." Then, there's a few moments of awkward silence until they can shake that "deer in the headlights" look and respond.

"Well, why?"

I shouldn't be surprised by their response. After all, headphones are so numerous you can find one in nearly every store; they come in an assortment of styles; a price can be found to match a pocket book of any size. Simply put, there is a headphone on the market to suit every "need", so why design your own?

This pursuit starts with a hobby. It may not be the most constructive of hobbies, but one that I enjoy... experiencing media. My media is mainly comprised of Movies and Games. What I enjoy most about media is the sense of immersion into a different time and place.

Immersion: To become so deeply engaged where idiosyncrasies to what the body considers natural are not just ignored, but rather accepted.

Manufacturers of entertainment devices and equipment are always looking to develop new product that tap into your senses to bring you to a new level of immersion. One of the more recent developments being pushed was 3D video, where a two-dimensional picture is transformed into an image that our brain interprets with depth. At the time, I felt this was the wrong direction and decided to focus my attention toward audio improvements.

As I studied rudimentary acoustics I felt my opinions on "better audio, not better video" were supported. A simple phenomena (Do doo be-do-do) makes the point. With your eyes closed, you can enter an unfamiliar space and, through acoustic wave reflection and delay, your brain will map out the approximate size of the room. Your brain has the power to tell you the relative size of a room without the use of your eyes.

That's great Nathaniel, but my eyes can do the same thing, but better (and without tripping over the coffee table).

With the moving picture and advances in photography, anything imaginable can be put in front of our eyes and be believable. However, if what you see does not match with what you hear, it is less immersive. For example, you could be watching a king sitting in a throne room addressing his court. The effects are astounding, "spare no expense", the lighting is gorgeous, but when the king speaks and his voice doesn't echo, but rather sounds like you're in a padded cell, you have now lost a great degree of immersion. Instead you are positioning yourself, not in a fantasy world, but back in your home. By leveraging the power of your brain to interpret audio waves, we can completely transform your piddly media room, living room, or dining room table into a vastly different world.

Okay! I'm convinced, audio IS important. So what can be done to make audio more "realistic"?

Sound sources can originate in any direction, so why do we limit ourselves to two speakers in headphones? Depending on how the original audio is recorded and mixed, two speakers merely make a differentiation between left and right sources and, to some degrees, depth. The depth is very limited and doesn't provide a full spectrum from front to back for the listener. Many of you already know, most movies and games are mixed to allow for multiple speaker surround sound, but so few headphones on the market take advantage of it.

So you mean there is nothing out there on the market that targets this limitation?

Yes and no. Surround sound headphones do exist on the market and are broken down into two types; virtual and true. Virtual surround sound headphones usually comprise of two speakers, one in the left and one in the right. The audio that is generated is sent through a special processing chip that is able to apply effects to the audio to give a surround sound "feel".

I'm no electrical or acoustical engineer, but from what I gather, it can adjust the pitch, timing, delay, etc. to give the impression of front and rear sources. The problem with this method is that the designers makes some generalizations on how a person's brain interprets these signals. In the real world, slight variation between the way our bodies are built cause the waves entering our ear canal to be slightly different from one person to another. Using a non-scientific illustration I hope to make this concept more clear.

You are standing in the middle of your living room with your back to the window (you have a window, right?). All of a sudden, something hits the window *thud*. Your brain quickly interprets the audio waves and tells you that the thud came from behind. If we were able to measure a single hypothetical property of the wave entering your ear canal, it might read 1.345. This value correlates with the sound coming from behind at 'X' degrees, 'X' feet away, dampened by 'X' mm of glass, etc. Now, I stand in the same exact spot and the same exact sound emanates from the window in the same exact location. This time, the special "measurer" of non-real world properties reads 1.271.

Despite these values being different, we both knew where the sound came from. The reason being, at a young age, through experiences/trail&error we have "learned" how to interpret these numbers to determine the point of origin for a sound.

Why are these numbers different between us? Maybe my ears stick out further than yours... or maybe my head is more hollow... or maybe your shoulders are broader (yes, shoulders play into this) than mine. All kinds of minor variations in body structure can alter the original sound wave. And because our bodies are all slightly different from one another, a pre-determined value from a machine may not be as naturally interpreted or accurate. This is where virtual surround sound fails. It can only make a generalization for how we interpret sound.

(http://www.lurvely.com/photo/514994063/Speaker_art/)

True surround, on the other hand, employs multiple speakers in each ear cup positioned to create multiple points of origin. Great in theory, but many solutions on the market lack the luster. In many headsets, the speakers are positioned so close to the ear that any opportunity for the acoustic waves to be altered by your body is lost. As stated above, your body plays a large role in manipulating the original sound wave to the result that your brain eventually interprets. These headphones that direct the audio straight down the ear canal are unnatural compared to real life where your skull, pinae, shoulders, etc play into account. I blame positioning on why the majority of these headphones fail to work as they claim.

With enough "practice" your brain will "learn" how to interpret the signals from either the Virtual or True surround headphones. I, however, want to blend the line between reality and your media by creating a set that naturally invokes your normal brain patterns.

My goal is develop a product that incorporates your natural body structures to keep the acoustic signals as intuitive as possible.

To see my latest developments on this project, please join me on my facebook page at facebook.com/NathanielCustom.

A New Way Measure Progress

In an effort to better share my project progression with you all, my limited artistic talent produced the image (currently) seen on the right. Apparently, better ways exist.
Below you will see my "mindmap". This "map" provides a little more insight into the different projects I'm working on; where I'm at, where I've been, and where I'm (tentatively) going.

Take a look at the interactive image below and leave me a bit of feedback (here or facebook)... it is appreciated.

100% Fulfilled, but not Done.

The final international sets have been shipped today. Thanks to all of you that pledged toward this project I have been able to take a virtual concept and bring it to tangible reality. Many of you have been asking what the future holds for the Medieval Game Pieces collection. After much consideration I've come to a few decisions on where I want to take the collection and how I want to get there.

When it comes to my creations, I am a perfectionist. I was the kid in school that never finished his art projects, not because he wasn't interested, but because the vision was so strong it has to be done "right". Since then I have learned to suppress a lot of those tendencies.

I look at the Medieval Settlement and City pieces and find a great sense of satisfaction in the design. Frequently, throughout the production of the pieces I would say to myself, "Wow! I made this." I'm drawn in to the streets below and feel the geometry of the buildings come alive. The colors are distinguishable and closely reflect the original pieces. There is very little, if anything I would change on the two designs. I am, however, slightly disheartened by a portion of the end product.

One goal behind the project was to eliminate the bubbles that decapitate the trees and plague the country side. And that goal has been met. Though I still struggled with decapitated trees on vary degrees, overall the process to remove the bubbles kept the issue under control. The side effect to the process was the creation of bubbles to the underside of the pieces. Though not noticeable on the game board, to its creator it brings me some shame knowing what lies beneath. Does it ultimately matter? No. But as I pursue the creation of new products, I want to improve.

My biggest regret is my inability to offer the pieces on this website at the same price that I made them available during the Kickstarter project. Unforeseen was the great investment of time needed to produce the pieces. A subject that I hope to expound upon in a future blog post where I draw out in detail my experiences and assessments of the entire project. On the bright side, there are processes out there that can help reduce the production cost by a significant amount, but not with some more funds.

It is with much eagerness that I plan to continue my development of new products that may assist in the acquisition of equipment that will help facilitate a cheaper production process for the Medieval Game Piece collection. From there, I would be able to continue to roll out new pieces for the collection and explore new games to create pieces for.

In the meantime, I will continue to offer the Medieval Game Pieces on this blog and develop my true surround sound headphones.
Again, thanks to everyone who pledged and supported the Medieval Settlements and Cities project.

Kickstarter Funded

What a great response. From January 15th to March 1st the Kickstarter project ran for my Medieval Settlements and Cities. Thanks to 79 backers the project surpassed its goal of $1500, raising nearly $2500 in pledges. I good portion of those backers are thanks to a few of you who passed on the word.

The past week I have been working on refining my casting techniques in preparations for making the 3960 pieces for those the backed the project. The vacuum pump and chamber purchased, as promised, with the money has dramatically improved upon the quality of the pieces. There are still logistics and some other minor cosmetic issues to iron out before the "full-scale" reproduction process can begin.

I have already received some emails from some of you who did not find out about Medieval Settlements and Cities until it was too late. Never-fear, sometime during the production of the 3960 I will be releasing an ordering system (possibly via this blog) so that you too can enjoy these pieces. Stay informed on any further developments into a Nathaniel Custom e-store by following this blog or joining me on facebook.

The Wait Is Over

After some holiday season delays the moment has arrived. I am proud to annouce the launch of Nathaniel Custom's Medieval Settlements and Cities on KickStarter.com.

I won't bore you with pictures of the City model or any of the details behind the project... please take a few minutes to visit my KickStarter project to read up on the project and watch the 2 minute video. If you don't have time now, be sure to bookmark the page, but don't wait too long, the project will only run for 45 days.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ncustom/medieval-settlement-and-city-game-pieces