INTERNET RADIO

Streaming MP3 Internet audio through an old vintage radio.

Overview

Current interfaces to access online radio stations are clunky and confusing. This InternetRadio allows for easy access to streaming audio streams through a reconfigured vintage radio.

Video:

Credits:

Jonah Brucker-Cohen and James Tu

Exhibitions:

“Space@Place, Reshaping Everyday Life“,
March 16-May 25, 2008, Z33, Hasselt, Belgium.
Cybersonica Festival, June 4-6 2002, ICA, London, UK.
Darklight Film Festival, Sept 20-22, 2002, Dublin, Ireland.

Press/Media:

The WIRE, Issue 222, 8/2002 (PDF – 4MB)

Prototype

InternetRadio is a joint project with James Tu, who was another fellow while I was at ITP. Our radio is a physical device that interfaces with the Internet by dynamically playing Shoutcast radio streams when the user turns the tuning dial. Users can pick from up to 10 genres of music and includes a random genre where the device picks one of 100 genres.

System

For the radio, we used 6 two digit numeric LED displays which we mounted on a custom built circuit board – along with a Basic Stamp, LED decoder chips and shift registers. Inputs are three potentiometers – one slide pot for genre, one rotary for volume, and another rotary for tuning. The radio works with a serial connection to the computer which feeds it the proper IP address to display on the LEDs as well as the MP3 decoding which is sent to the speakers for output.