Historic messages from Mp3-hacked radio

Media designer Sighvatur Jónsson is creating an interactive installation for the folkmuseum of Vestmannaeyjar. The visitors of the museum can listen to historic sailing correspondence by turning the knob. To make the old radio play the audio recordings, he will hack the old radio to play mp3 files triggered by an Arduino.

Photo by Sighvatur Jónsson. The wig was inside the radio, maybe it was the captains secret stashing spot?

I helped Sighvatur getting started with the Mp3 trigger board and controlling it with the arduino. The knob of the radio will be connected to a potentiometer, which in turn will be read by the arduino. We made a script that tells the Mp3 trigger to change tracks according to the position of the potentiometer. The areas between the recordings are classic radio noise for the authentic feeling. More info on the Mp3 trigger here, and home of Sigva multimedia here.

 

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