Why

That’s the question I kept asking. It was December of 2022, at Get Together, and I had no idea what I Was doing with my life, or why. I kept asking, why? And no-one responded, or heard, or even cared, so I started screaming it.
WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY?
I got an answer. The words came from God, and I’ll have to paraphrase, because all I’m willing to relate is my own interpretation:

“Because these are your people, Ryan, and they deserve to have fun.” It’s funny, because in that moment I had no idea what was coming. I had no job, no plan, and my money had all but ran out. I had new friends, and a ticket for both days of Get Together, and on the second day I ran into my old boss, and that landed me a job, and I thought, shit. These really are my people.

A couple of days later, I asked to see my friend’s belt. She’d bought it at Shambhala for $200 on impulse, and when I looked at it close, and costed it out, I realized it had cost $50 tops. Not only that, it had no battery, weak controls, and was of low quality: the first one she bought died immediately, and the 2nd one lasted maybe a year. I realized there was money to be made.
Then came New Years, and I pulled out a hat I’d made after the Sasquatch Gathering, back in 2019, and it was met with love… People put it on, and didn’t want to take it off.
Why do I do this? I want to make things that people LOVE. I want to bring joy to their lives. I want them to smile, and be amazed, and amaze anyone that sees the products that I offer. I want to make it, and I want to break it until there’s nothing left to improve, and then I want to take it to the world. I want to build a brand based on these values. Beauty. Fun. Quality.

When

This started in earnest as of January 1, 2023. My initial aim was to have an initial prototype, scaled up to a dozen units within 6 months.
I failed. I tried. I sacrificed. I improved every facet again, and again, and I compromised my health, security, and sanity for the cause. What I did was amazing, however I was too hoped up on the destination to realize that it’s really the journey that’s the prize.
That was then. I’ve learned what I can, and I’ve taken as much time as I need to reflect on the experience. I’ve got a wearable prototype next to me that’s too heavy for comfort, and the material to make one that I hope to be half as heavy. I’ve got more problems than solutions, but the solutions I have are robust, and my vision is quite grand.
I’m presently looking to engage with the programming at Edmonton Unlimited to help me to get a better grasp on the big picture, and the problems I’m looking to solve. I’m continuing to work on it, and I’ll be updating the site with content from both then, and now, as up until now the story hasn’t properly been told. I cannot commit to launching this year, however I won’t say that I won’t, either. Time will tell, and if you’d really like to know, sign up for my mailing list. I gotchu.

Where

I’m presently based out of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. I want to take this Global, partnering with Artists who themselves can create products using the products within the products I’m building now.

Who

My name is Ryan Horricks.
I have an unstable sense of identity, so the who of I Am can be tricky. I’ve got a website ryanhorricks.com although you’ll note it also says very little about me. It has everything I’ve made for the past 6 or 7 years, and I suppose that’s a start.
Professionally, I taught myself to code, and I am a Full Stack Developer. I’m into my 7th year, and have spent the last year especially focused on hardware, though it’s been an interest for a while. I’ve worked almost exclusively with Startups, and I’d accurately describe myself as being one of those “Really Intelligent, Really Crazy People”. I want to change the world, and I want to work with those who feel the same. I’m in the process of spinning off my technical expertise as another business - Enlightened Technologies, of which Lit is a subsidiary. Or something. I’m new to business, but I’ll be incorporating shortly.
I’m terribly alone, which is partially by design, because I would love to just fuck off for 6 months and live in the jungle, and keep doing what I do now. I was born in Edmonton, but my family sucks, because their family sucked, and it’s just a wild mess of generational trauma. I’m luckily quite gregarious, and I find connection wherever I go, be they on the stage at Thug Shells Rap Night, to the shakers at Startup TNT, to the nerds in the Dev Edmonton Society.
I seek to live with authenticity, honesty, and to Be Amazing.

What

Much of the work thus far has centered around a single product – a light up cowboy hat. I’m basing my designs around the ESP series of microcontrollers, featuring microphones for audio responsive effects, well-designed battery power systems, intuitive controls, and support for wireless synchronization between multiple devices.
I’m also working on something more abstract – taking all of the components that went into creating the hat, and spinning them off as solo projects, so as to enable others to do what I’m doing with the hat, except better. I’m looking to open the playing field, and to inspire artists to incorporate elegant lighting, novel effects, lit installations, and much more WITHOUT the need to invest the time to get good with electrical engineering.
I’m also working on consumer-facing devices to serve a very similar role, for throwing awesome parties.
I’m presently in the late-prototyping stage. I stared this aiming to scale up immediately, however I instead shone a light on my own ignorance. I’ve since quelled much of that ignorance, and am gearing up to once again take the current set of developments, and bring them towards mass-production.
Scaling this project up, and crossing borders will require regulatory certification. This is going to be expensive, and I’m going to need to pursue funding.
I have unanswered questions, still, however there’s enough light that I can see my way through the dark places, and find myself where I need to be.