Hirsch & Mann were invited by Intel to collaborate with NYC based designer Christiane Joy to create a bespoke wearable piece to for Karen O, lead singer of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
The result was a very appropriately rock denim jacket with bespoke lights that responded to sound.
The design worked beautifully with Hirsch & Mann's aesthetics, focused on exposing, demystifying and highlighting the beauty of technology (as opposed to hiding it).
The first iteration was powered by an Intel Ultrabook.
The second iteration used an Intel powered smartphone which did the audio digital signal processing heavy lifting.
I was responsible for the software that ran on the smartphone, doing real-time sound analysis and send DMX data over serial to drive the custom LED modules. Additionally the system included an editor to map LED modules to sound frequencies they should respond to. It sent updates via to the smartphone via WebSockets and exposed settings on the device.
Credits to our talented seamstresses, Aimee Mathew-John and Esther Laura Dennis for lending their expertise on the ergonomics and inner design of the suit jacket.