Hasta La Gadget!

Instructables member janw uses an old Televox intercom to call his assistant. But here’s the thing: the intercom is his assistant. He calls her Raspberri, and she’s just a few rads shy of being a Fallout character.

Janw took great pains to preserve the exterior of the intercom and the way that it’s activated. That means that he simply presses the button to “call” Raspberri and speak his command, after which she should respond as if she was on the other end of the line.

Janw used a DPDT switch to rig the intercom’s speaker to a sound card, which in turn is connected to a Raspberry Pi. A USB Wi-Fi adapter allows the computer to go online to search for information. Then he installed Steven Hickson’s voice command software and wrote Python scripts to tell Raspberri how to respond if needed.

Tell your browser to cancel all your meetings and head to Instructables for more on Janw’s hack.

[via Hack A Day]

Most of the alarm clocks we’ve featured here differentiate themselves based on how they wake people up. Milad Modir’s Clockee Talkee has a feature that you wouldn’t expect from an alarm clock: a two-way radio intercom. But if you think about it, it can be a really handy gadget for both the home and the office.

Clockee Talkee has a simple and compact design. It comes in pairs, but you can buy a whole bunch of them and send a message to all other units from one of the devices. You can also switch to one of eight channels if you need to have a private chat with just one Clockee Talkee user. One unit can reach other Clockee Talkees within 0.6 mi, and you can unplug it and put three AAA batteries inside if you want to use it on the go. Aside from its clock and intercom, it also has a built-in thermometer. You can also set it so that its LED shows the time and temperature when you clap.

Pledge at least $59 (USD) on Indiegogo to get a pair of Clockee Talkees. Over and out.

[via PRWeb]