SubHead Roundup

Heretic Media, 2021

One of the less talked about effects of the pandemic on the economy (obviously there are many) has been on what was a fledgling and extremely niche industry pre-COVID: Replacement Artificial Heads, aka ‘SubHeads’.

Prior to the pandemic, SubHeads were a niche of the world of body magic. Used mainly by those on the extreme edges of both magic and technology, SubHeads were, as the name suggests, a number of devices that through a mix of physics, magic, and engineering could actually replace a whole head.

The way they work is, in principle, easy to understand if you know a bit about magic. A sub head isn’t truly a new head, as much as it is technology to connect the dimension-shifted head — no longer in our reality, effectively, but still functions as a place for one to keep thinking and stay alive — to sensors that replace or even augment the senses lost because your head is out of phase with the rest of the world.

But of course pre-COVID there was a big question about anyone using a SubHead: Why?.

A few of them had specific design goals. Some were just to suit the needs of those into the ‘lifestyle’ or who liked or preferred the aesthetics. And some have been bold experiments that try to redefine or at least reimagine just what a ‘head’ can be.

And then obviously there came a defining moment as COVID was researched — someone without a head was actually protected from the virus even more than wearing a mask or another intervention. Which led to an explosion in demand for these formerly niche devices. It remains to be seen how long this will endure past the pandemic, but for now anyway, the bonanza is on for the companies in this space.

We might not check all the boxes off here, but we’ve selected a broad cross section of the market. Whether you’re actively shopping, or just curious what’s out there, this should be a great place to start learning about … well, all things SubHead. We’re also only scratching the surface here, so those who are truly interested should check the links at the bottom.

The RYRTech HoloHead - $75,000-$142,000 (depending on options)

We’ll start with the Ferrari of SubHeads, the one famously used by celebrities and well, anyone who can swallow the steep price tag and was quick enough to get in line early.

RYRTech was formerly an underdog in the body magic space. They made a suite of replacement hands and feet for special industries, and had a promising demo of mechanical wings.

The HoloHead was at first little more than a publicity stunt. The market for SubHeads was mainly limited to industries that dealt with hazardous conditions — mining, high altitude, underwater, areas where having a normal head might be more of a risk than an advantage.

The HoloHead was, essentially just one of those replacement heads that also projected a replica of the person’s original head on their shoulders.

It was criticized, maybe rightly, for solving a problem that didn’t exist. The kinds of risky jobs that employed most SubHeads didn’t have a real need for someone to have a projected head, much less a much more expensive device to take into a dangerous space.

But despite the critics, the HoloHead found and uncovered a market that most of the industry overlooked — that of the rich hobbyist.

It’s no secret that body magic devices can be expensive. It’s simply that before the HoloHead debuted, most of those expensive devices were just something that would change something. You could use them over and over and share them between lots of users. It’s what allowed for such a robust infrastructure of magic studios to exist everywhere.

The HoloHead however, was just for one person at a time. It was just as costly as a whole Transformalizer, but only one person could use it at a time.

Apparently that doesn’t matter. It was enough, at first, for HoloHead to ship several hundred units a year and stay in production, meanwhile RYRTech was still mainly in the business of serving industrial clients.

Then of course, came the pandemic. And HoloHead found their perfect opportunity — a lot of people suddenly had plenty of money that would have gone to travel and other luxuries, yet they needed a way to make that happen safely.

They’ve since increased production to where HoloHead alone is now over 90% of RYRTech’s total revenue, and the features available have greatly increased as has the platform.

Key to this was a central insight of the designers. If your head is a holographic projection anyway, it doesn’t matter what it looks like.

Enter the HoloHead marketplace. You can look like a pop star. A cartoon character. A simple smily face. You can even set your head to be a live feed of a Discord channel or a rotating middle finger.

Any 3D model could be uploaded and downloaded. Creativity boomed and every production run of the HoloHead has consistently sold out over and over and over.

On top of that, the camera, the speakers, the microphone, even the 5G connection — all of what you get is state of the art. It even includes a customized scan of your original head (it’d better for that kind of price), and free support for 3 years.

RYRTech is said to be reinvesting all their profits into bringing down the price. For now, it’s only a toy for the extremely rich. But if you can get your hands on one, there’s a reason there’s so much buzz around them.

Arconic NeoHead - $299

If there’s a polar opposite to the HoloHead that still nearly fills every need for a SubHead, it’s the Neo.

The Neo started on an open-source platform called ‘quant-thing.’ Quant-thing is a library of magical bindings that link areas of consciousness to external inputs. For years it was the basis of a number of magical hobbyist software and home-brew magical devices.

It was also general purpose enough that Neo was able to create a cap that will interface directly with any cell phone.

A phone after all has almost everything you need to replace a head: A camera. A microphone. A speaker. And a screen to show your ‘face’.

The Neo App, while formerly having a reputation for being very buggy, has come a long way and include a similarly huge marketplace of custom faces (or ‘avatars’) to use on your screen.

However, there are of course drawbacks to the platform. For one, use of your head depends on an active internet connection — Neo relies on cloud processing for a lot of what it does behind the scenes. Similarly you’re limited by the battery life of your phone.

Most notably and limiting however, is that the Neo does not include a food intake. One of the less glamorous realities of an artificial head is that you still need a way to consume food, and none of them seem to have solved this problem well. In the Neo’s case, you’ll need your head — or someone else’s borrowed head — for each and every meal or snack.

Of course it is also by far the cheapest serious commercial option, so we’re not exactly going to be picky here.

MagiCorp TRLK-400 — $2,600

You could call the SUB-400 the Honda Civic of the replacement head world. Reliable, does what you need, a vague model number that seems arbitrary but functional, and well… for a piece of quantum interlacing technology, not really that expensive.

The TRLK includes all the usual sensors, but with one added twist — 4 cameras, facing in all directions allowing for a mind-bending 360 degrees of vision. The audio module is also particularly good at locating sounds, and as many users will testify, is actually something of an upgrade over human ears as it allows you to zero in on a particular frequency or location.

It’s also a bit more stylish. Rather than a simple black cap, as many of the generic models out there, the TRLK is a small black sphere. Sure, your head might be the size of a tennis ball, but at least it’s round.

Finally, the TRLK uses MagiCorp’s famous “lunchbox” to solve the food issue. Simple place your consumables inside the included box, turn it on and … you’re full. It’s not exactly an exciting meal time, but we think it’s better than trying to pour a smoothy into an intake port.

EZMage SubBox - $1,200

We’re not sure what to make of the SubBox. On one hand it seems like a clever and cheap workaround to a SubHead issue, on the other it seems like … it just kind of misses the point.

As many will point out, it’s not really a SubHead. When you use this — by placing your head inside the included box and activating it — your head isn’t dimensionally shifted. In fact, it’s only removed and stays in the box.

Then, with the included goggles and speakers and microphone, you have a transmitter from the box to your body. You can place this transmitter, with an included pair of cameras, and it’s own audio set up, wherever you like. In truth, you’re just using your same head but remotely.

Practically, it does allow for visits in public without a head (as long as your phone can get a signal!). But meaningfully, it’s not the same as a true SubHead and many who’ve tried both prefer the real thing.

Still, if you already like having a removable head — we know many of you do! — this might be a good halfway point.

As others have also pointed out, you can easily construct an approximation of this for about $400 if you are handy enough and want a DIY solution. It’s cheap enough to remove a head these days, and all the extra tech you need is essentially a pair of VR goggles and some off the shelf electronics.

BimboXXX - $69

We probably could have included another ‘real’ SubHead here, but we couldn’t resist this one.

The BimboXXX is not going to replace your real head day to day. That’s not what it’s for and that’s not why you’d buy it.

Instead, this product answers the age-old question of “What if instead of a head I had a head from a blow up sex doll?”

And that’s it. You’ll need to inflate the head first. You’ll also get a very rudimentary camera and microphone, but no speaker, so you can hear but won’t be able to talk.

That’s all. Besides, that you’ll have a rather durable vinyl head with a mouth that — well we don’t need to get into that part. It will be blonde. It will look like a skanky cartoon of a porn star. There’s only one option on checkout which is “Large” or “Medium”, the technical difference of those sizes being unclear.

If this sounds like something you’d still be into, you’ll know it. Get ready for airhead jokes.

And welp, at least your new head will be easy to put in the dishwasher.

LibWip 55XU - $454

We couldn’t complete any roundup without including this workhorse of the subhead world.

It’s maybe both the least interesting and most relevant model on the market.

On one hand, it doesn’t offer anything different or new. It’s got an average camera. Average microphones. A below average speaker with a reputation for adding a ‘tinny’ noise to your voice. A crappy food intake port that needs to be cleaned daily. The WiFi uplink … well, it exists.

On the other hand, it’s one of the only SubHeads that well, looks like a head. At least if you squint and refuse to notice that it’s obviously made of plastic and is simply the size and shape of a human head, but otherwise could have come off a mannequin.

Still, it’s been a popular enough unit that it’s hard to deny the upside. With one of these, you can integrate an air filter, and then you’re good to go out in the world without a mask, and the added bonus of knowing that you look like you escaped from a department store.

Maybe what’s most exciting about the 55XU is the ways that numerous users have customized their own versions. For anyone with some creativity, a boring beige-colored plastic head is essentially a blank canvas to customize with colorful wigs, googley eyes, crazy makeup, and what-have-you of different accessories.

And while not exactly ‘cheap’ it’s affordable enough that some people have made collections of them, along with a whole cottage industry of artsy mods and customizations. Want some real craftsmanship? Hop on Etsy and search for ‘55XU’. You’ll see what we’re talking about.