iPhone in your helmet?

[AbrahamLINC0LN]

I'm sitting here brainstorming ways to make a cheap helmet system when it popped into my head. Could you use a wired amp plugged into your iPhone and just use a bluetooth mic? By that same thought process you could rig your helmet to play tunes, use Siri, shoot a text (LOL). Has anyone tried anything like this?

 

On a side note, I ride a R6 motorcycle and use a bluetooth helmet. It makes the ride 10 X better. How do us men make things better . . . add bluetooth!

 

PS the subtitles are for you troopers in the Spanish 501st

Edited March 19, 2012 by ShawnSmithNY

[AbrahamLINC0LN]

secondary thought, I am running an iPhone 4S that is jailbroken. I can tell Siri to lots of extra stuff and with certain cydia siri extensions, Siri is always running, listening. You could say "Siri, play show me your identification" and 3 seconds later, it will. You dont have to press anything

[Rich330[TK]]

PS the subtitles are for you troopers in the Spanish 501st

 

All those that have taken a course in Italian that is!

[Darth Hilarious]

This sounds to me like it might be overcomplicating things (most successful helmet systems I know are simple ones).

 

But that's no reason not to give it a try. You could start a trend...

 

Just be sure to share the awesome results if it works!

[AbrahamLINC0LN]

OK so after perusing whitearmour and a few other places, some things to consider:

 

Helmet speakers:

These are mounted in the helmet - used for plugging into an MP3 player

 

Microphone:

will have to find a way that this connects to the iPhone wirelessly while the iPhone speaker output goes separately to the speakers. I'm thinking disassembling a Motorola S9 or S10 wireless bluetooth communication headset and mounting it in the helmet will solve this issue. This would also allow someone to press the home button on the iPhone to activate Siri and tell it what to do. You can control Siri's voice volume through iPhone settings. Siri would then do what you say and you hear the confirmation.

 

Amp:

This is where I'm having some difficulty. How to switch between helmet speakers and the amp. I'm thinking that the setup should go to the amp and the headset. One can just turn the amp on or off when they want the general public to hear what they say. But how does the iPhone connect and play something to two different devices simultaneously? Can it do this? Since my motorcycle helmet is bluetooth, i will try playing music though it and also plugging in a speaker directly into the audio out jack of the phone. I'll follow up on this in a later reply to this thread.

 

Summary

I'm thinking that this might need to be two setups. Rig up a bluetooth setup for using my iPhone and then a second setup that is just a mic from the helmet going directly to the amp. I tell Siri to do something and then once it recognizes what I want and confirms, I switch on the amp. What Siri plays out loud in my helmet would be picked up by the amp's mic and thus making the illusion that it is something I said.

 

Comments, issues, concerns, thoughts?

 

EDIT 1 - i see the hovi tips play your voice. So what is the amp used for then? I think im missing something big here.

Edited March 20, 2012 by AbrahamLINC0LN

[TK6294]

Shawn,

Per your PM I did some playing around. It is an interesting idea and I have thought about Bluetooth before. I have already suggested to Aker to make an amp that has Bluetooth so that a Bluetooth mic can be used. I think that would be pretty cool to have...

 

TK's tend to use two types of speakers. Either aerator integrated speakers or a voice amplifier in the chest or back armor. I do not want to start a debate on those since my preferences are obvious based on what I sell. The point is to add an amplified voice that can be heard by people around you.

 

I found an app last night that does some of what you want. It is called "microphone" and cost $1 in the app store. What it does is allows you to use the iPhone mic to pick up your voice and then output to an external speaker. That speaker has to be hooked up via a cable. So this is what I did.

 

I took a 3.5mm male to male patch cord, plugged one end into my iPhone and the other end into the one of my Aker voice amplifiers. Then I opened the microphone app on my phone. I was then able to talk into my iPhone mic and be heard through the amplifier. I had to have my mouth very close to my iPhone mic for it to work. Then the voice output was about 1/2 the normal level that you get with an Aker microphone.

 

I tried to use my Bluetooth headset as the microphone and found that the iPhone either does the corded output or bluetooth output but does not do both at the same time.

 

You could use one of my Memorex wireless headset kits with the iPhone if you wanted to eliminate the cable.

 

I do think you are making it more complicated then it needs to be. I suggest that you use a normal sound system (Aker, Aker and IComm, Aker, IComm, and wireless, or other system). Then use the wired headset that came with your iPhone. You can buy some acustobuds from amazon that will put rubber tips on the iPhone headphones. That will help them stay in your ears. Then you can where the headphones inside your helmet, run your phone down to your armor, and leave the headphone remote accessible outside of your helmet. It shoudl land at your neck level. Since it is white it should blend in. Then you can access your controls so that Siri can help you. I have used this setup at a few cons and it works well. Siri is especially helpful since you can use gloves with an iPhone touch screen.

[AbrahamLINC0LN]

I do think popping open a Motorola S9 or S10 and remounting it inside the helmet could be nice. Only issue with that is how and how hard is it to remount all the buttons that are on the Motorola headset get mounted. Maybe just velcro-ing could work.

[AbrahamLINC0LN]

So to resume this post a little bit (still waiting on my armor and a little bored) I wanted to discuss the rig I have thought up:

I currently use this helmet when I ride my motorcycle:

----------

There is a rechargeable battery pack, a mic and two stereo speakers plus a standard charging cable. In addition to that, there is that knob wheel that is glued to the helmet.

Since that piece is glued, you can glue it anywhere on the armor. That wheel/button is also the activator for the mic and speakers and turning the whole system on or off. The battery lasts for a long time.

Rig this up and the only real need is to hold the home button on the iPhone to activate Siri.

 

* There is a jailbreak that allows you to change the name for activating and one for always on, listening for a cue word ("Lord Vader" anyone?) and then Siri activates

 

So that is my suggested setup. The wires and rigging can be seen on this Amazon customer pic ----------

Anyone like the idea / setup?

Edited March 30, 2022 by gmrhodes13
link removed no longer working

[NastyNoah[TK]]

I love this idea and have wondered myself if something similar could be done. I will be watching this thread.

[Darth Aloha[Admin]]

While I think having a phone in your helmet is totally ridiculous... The motorcycle folks have already figured this out.

 

There are a few boxes that will switch between a frs radio and your cell phone. Some have integrated intercom radios but others just switch between audio sources. Rather than use an external frs maybe you could use an aker?

 

Motorcom, chatterbox, sena, Mix-it, and the j&m integrator are some things to google.

 

But again.... There are way too many other fun things to do while dressed as a stormtrooper other than talk on the phone.

 

Aloha and good luck,

 

-Eric

 

[TD-3425]

One thing I'm going to point out from experience. When I first got my armor, I put in an FRS radio into my bucket to talk to other troopers. I wired up a special PTT button in my helmet that I could press when I wanted to talk.

 

Then, i put on my armor, and found out I could not bend my arms enough to be able to push the button. That, and no one else uses an FRS radio so, i ripped it out.

 

I use Jim's Aker and iComm and it works great. My iPod shuffle plugs into the line in on the Aker and that gives me my TK comm traffic loop. I would love to be able to use my iPhone while suited up, incase I had to talk to my wife or call someone. But for me that would mean my phone would have to be put somewhere, probably my back piece.

 

And then like you said I'd need bluetooth. I only have a 4 and again, no way to bend my arms enough to push a button. So how would I activate a headset to make a call or answer.

 

Finally... I just don't feel comfortable putting my $600 dollar phone into my armor. I put my valuables into my stanley, I lock my stanley with padlocks and then put the keys into my TD. Someone got their blaster stolen right out of their holster, I wouldn't want that happening to my phone. In the bucket would be ok but again with my 4, I don't see how I could get my bluetooth to activate without having to press a button and on top of that, with squirrel fans going inside probably would be too much air/noise to work properly.

 

Just my experience. I'd recommend you build your armor and make it wearable. Put it ALL on, then figure out how to do your bucket.

Edited June 10, 2012 by TK3425

[LordNikon]

Reviving this old thread a bit... I think using a generic platform such as a smartphone could have advantages, if just a working setup can be devised.

A smartphone app could easily do all these things:

* Voice amp, voice manipulation, and noise.
* Amplify ambient sounds and play back in headphones.

* Play prerecorded sounds. "These ARE the droids we are looking for!" "Imperial theme", ...

* Sound effects for the weapon.
* Intercom with other troopers.
* And so on...

If all troopers have the app, then the imperial theme could be played synchronized by all troopers while marching.

The big question is: Is it possible to hook up sufficiently many audio inputs and outputs?
* Three microphone inputs. (One for voice amp, two for recording ambient sounds in stereo)
* Three, or possibly four, speaker outputs. (One for voice amp, stereo headphones, and optionally a separate speaker for weapon effects)
 

USB is one way to add more inputs and outputs to a phone. Bluetooth another.
Android has decent support for selecting video from multiple camera sources. Perhaps it has similar support for multiple audio devices?

Regarding controlling a phone while in armor. How about those Android bracelets/watches? Just make sure the gloves are conductive enough to use a touchscreen. There is probably a spray for that...

Edited January 27, 2015 by LordNikon

[Ripper_L[Admin]]

I thought about all this many times.

 

I have an Aker MR1505 and bought a cheap Bluetooth Headset (Jabra BT2046) and I also have an 1.5mm-Audio-to-Bluetooth adapter.

 

Problem is - the bluetooth headset AND the bluetooth adapter have auto pairing, but can't find each other. I can pair both with my smartphone.

 

So now I need an app which bypasses my speech from the headset to the Aker. (bluetooth-audio-IN to bluetooth-audio-OUT or bluetooth-audio-in to 1.5mm-audio-OUT)

 

I tried "SoundAbout" (Android-App) but couldn't figure it out. Any suggestions?

Edited February 12, 2015 by Ripper_L