Giving Kids the Gift of Movies on Physical Media
To give his kids something roughly analogous to putting a VHS tape in a VCR, Xavier designed this NFC Movie Library.
A 30-something man starting an article with the phrase “kids today” is never a good look, but modern children are missing out on the experience of using physical media. Thanks to YouTube and streaming services, they can consume all the movies and TV shows they could possibly want without ever touching anything except a remote. Maybe it is millennial nostalgia speaking, but it seems like interaction with physical media can enhance the experience. Of course, nobody actually wants to limit themselves to whatever media is still available on DVD. So, Xaxier designed this NFC Movie Library for his kids.
Xavier’s goal was to replicate his own childhood experience of digging through the family’s pile of VHS tapes to find a well-worn movie to pop in the VCR. Many of us have similar memories that we cherish and Xaxier didn’t want his kids to miss out on that. But it is still an expensive pain to maintain a physical media library — and that is if you can even find the titles you want on DVD or Blu-ray. The NFC Movie Library bridges the gap to provide the best of both worlds: a digital media library accessible through physical cards.
As you probably guessed, those are NFC (near-field communication) cards. Scanning one with the reader, which is roughly analogous to putting a VHS tape in a VCR, triggers the playback of an associated movie or TV show. We’ve seen similar devices designed for music playback many times, but video is much rarer. And the best part is that this is compatible with most popular streaming services, as well as local media storage.
The reader device itself is both simple and affordable. It consists of a “SuperMini” ESP32-C3 development board and an RC522 NFC reader module in a 3D-printed enclosure. Xavier made the “physical media” by gluing printed labels onto NFC cards.
Most of the magic happens thanks to the software. The ESP32 runs ESPHome firmware, which lets it connect to a Home Assistant server. When a kid scans a card, Home Assistant receives a unique identifier associated with a link to media. Using the Apple TV integration, Home Assistant can start playing the media connected to that link via Plex. Because Plex supports both streaming and local media, a card can play just about anything.
While this obviously isn’t exactly like playing a VHS, DVD, or Super-8 reel, it is certainly a more hands-on experience than a few button presses with a remote.e.