The dream of home automation. A much-talked about subject, but one few realise to any practical extent. Not so for the ingenious Allen Pan who, after being inspired by the Nintendo Switch and the recent release of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, decided to rig his house to respond to tunes from Ocarina of Time, played from — you guessed it — an ocarina.
You can see the system in action in the video above, as Pan opens doors, controls lights and even calls his phone using nothing but his lips and the ancient musical instrument.
How does it work? Obviously, he doesn’t have his household under some sort of magical enchantment — it’s powered by a microphone, hooked up to a Raspberry Pi. Wi-Fi modules placed around the house allow the Pi to issue commands, based on the notes played.
Yes, it’s not the most elegant setup and you have to wonder how your flatmates would respond to you blowing your flute all the time, but as far as style points go… it’s an easy ten out of ten.
[YouTube, via VentureBeat]