Atari's first wearable is the Speakerhat, a baseball cap with integrated speakers

[Shawn Knight]

Atari is officially on the comeback trail although the path it is carving out is a bit questionable. After unveiling images of its Ataribox console last week, the iconic gaming company has provided details on the first product in its new Atari Connected Life line of wearables.

The Speakerhat is exactly what you’d think – a baseball-style cap with speakers built into the bill. The wearable wirelessly connects to any Bluetooth-enabled device and thanks to its integrated microphone, can even be used to conduct phone calls or initiate voice commands. With Social Synchronous Broadcast technology, multiple Speakerhat users can simultaneously listen to a single audio stream.

Atari promises the Speakerhat feels natural and normal to wear for long periods of time while achieving an acceptable balance of weight versus sound quality and functionality.

While I applaud Atari for thinking out of the box, do I really need to express how bad of an idea this product is?

Listening to music while wearing headphones as to not disturb everyone around you is perfectly acceptable. Even Bluetooth loudspeakers have their place (at a pool party or family gathering, for example, or even in the privacy of your own home). A personal listening device that annoyingly blasts music to everyone in the nearby vicinity, however, will be flat out obnoxious. If you’ve ever seen people blaring music on their smartphone in public without headphones, well, this is basically that on steroids.

Those interested in trying out the Speakerhat can register for a chance to take part in Atari’s beta program.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/70223-atari-first-wearable-speakerhat-baseball-cap-integrated-speakers.html

 

[Xtreme gamer]

I love it.
I would buy it to listen to music while working on my car in the garage. Guaranteed to free up hands and also has no wires.
Microphone might be good for voice while pc gaming. Instead of a microphone on the desk or in your ear.

 

[psycros]

I love it.
I would buy it to listen to music while working on my car in the garage. Guaranteed to free up hands and also has no wires.
Microphone might be good for voice while pc gaming. Instead of a microphone on the desk or in your ear.

For music a 30 yr old boom box would do the job better. Actually, this hat looks like something from the late 80's..and maybe that's Atari's intent. I do wish that somebody would produce a wireless mic I could just clip to my shirt collar though. Maybe I just haven't stumbled upon it yet.

 

[Ggomadesuwing]

I heard that in the 1970s, the ATARI dev teams used to get high and throw out weird ideas like the Video Music...

 

[captaincranky]

I wonder where they got this bright idea.... oh wait. I know

 

[mattsie]

When I was a kid, I had this sort of a hat with a fan on it. Guess this is an evolved version.

I presume not attentive parents would buy this for their kids that will annoy every other being on earth when in close proximity of it.

 

[captaincranky]

...[ ]...I presume not attentive parents would buy this for their kids that will annoy every other being on earth when in close proximity of it.

Even bad press is good press, (so they say), and this will get, (for better or worse), Atari's name back out there, now won't it? Of course I doubt as much as they want.

That said, it's sort of a commercial for Atari, and God knows, commercials are, "made loud to be played loud".

I'm pretty sure commercials were one of the motivating factors behind the invention of the audio compressor. Well that, and Mark Knopfler's guitar playing, but I digress.

 

[captaincranky]

...[ ]...While I applaud Atari for thinking out of the box, do I really need to express how bad of an idea this product is?

Given this generation's mindless addiction to 3 note, endlessly repeating bass, propelled by up to 18" sub-woofers and some 1000 watt amplifiers, I'd hazard a guess they wouldn't hear you anyway

Listening to music while wearing headphones as to not disturb everyone around you is perfectly acceptable. Even Bluetooth loudspeakers have their place (at a pool party or family gathering, for example, or even in the privacy of your own home). A personal listening device that annoyingly blasts music to everyone in the nearby vicinity, however, will be flat out obnoxious. If you've ever seen people blaring music on their smartphone in public without headphones, well, this is basically that on steroids.

I'm not exactly sure what remotely located ivory tower you've been living in, but car stereos have become public enemy #1, with respect to peace and quiet in public places. Well those, and Harley Davidsons.

I will grant you that smartphone speakers are absolute garbage, and today's youth are somewhere between inept and incapable of making any assessment of how actual quality audio reproduction should sound.

That being said, I have to wonder how old, (or rather "how young") you are, since you've made no reference to the "boom box" craze of the 70's and 80's. Those things were so obnoxious, they were literally legislated out of existence..

...[ ]...Those interested in trying out the Speakerhat can

That won't be me.

From a design standpoint, the "Speakerhat", ia a big fail. The hat brim doesn't have enough surface area to act as an "infinite baffle" for the speaker, and any sound bouncing off the wearer's forehead will be out of phase with the source. In less technical terms, these things will sound like sh!t. However, that would be somewhat mitigated by the fact the wearer, being used to smartphone speakers, will think he, she, or gender unspecific, has died and gone to high fidelity heaven.

How come we don't have a "barfing" smiley?