Streaming in Disguise

Physical media is dead! Long live physical media! Streaming video services are no longer the new kid on the block, so we have had plenty of time to weigh the pros and cons of this technology. It beats the pants off of physical media in terms of convenience and selection, yet something has also been lost. Scrolling through lists of videos is just not the same as browsing through the aisles of a Blockbuster on a Friday night. And compared to a physical tape or disc, fully digital media seems to somehow cheapen the entertainment experience.

This general feeling has led to a resurgence in the popularity of all sorts of physical media, from records to DVDs. YouTuber The Stock Pot was a child of the 90s, so in his case, it is nostalgia for VHS tapes that is tugging on his heartstrings. He wanted to recreate the VHS experience, but without actually being stuck with shelves full of low-quality media plastered with “Be Kind, Rewind” stickers. That led him to build a VHS-inspired media player (that actually looks very little like a real VHS player) that offers a compromise between the best aspects of physical and digital media.

The cartridges “played” by the media player actually contain no media whatsoever. Instead, these 3D-printed rectangles are only equipped with an NFC tag. When inserted into the media player, which is also 3D-printed, the tag is read by an RFID reader board that is hooked up to a tiny ESP32 microcontroller development board. The ESP32 simply decodes the ID of the NFC tag, then forwards it to Home Assistant.

The rest of the magic happens in Home Assistant. There, the IDs are associated with specific media that should be played. That happens through a pair of integrations — one with Android TV remotes, and another with the Plex streaming service. In this way, when a cartridge is inserted, it causes the TV to turn on and the Plex app to be loaded. From there, a specific movie on Plex is played. While this setup works quite well, it would take some time to configure everything if you want to have a large library of physical cartridges.

Since most of the work happens in Home Assistant, there are some interesting possibilities aside from just playing movies. For example, The Stock Pot created a cartridge that randomly creates a playlist of videos from one of his favorite channels. It would also be possible to trigger other actions around the house, like turning on lights.

If you are interested in building your own version of this device, a kit is available for purchase. It includes everything other than the 3D prints, which you will have to supply on your own.