QR Code Reel-to-Reel Audio Playback

Data storage has come a long way over the years, from cylinders to records, to reel-to-reel tape used on projectors and elsewhere. Today there are a variety of magnetic, optical, and solid-state solutions that we take for granted, as well as QR codes to store relatively small amounts of data. What is one was to combine new and old, merging the continuous feed reel-to-reel concept with QR codes?

To pull off such a feat, "The Resistor Network" printed out a series of bar codes with an Epson thermal printer, which represent a song encoded using the efficient Opus codec. This QR-reel is then pulled under a webcam in sequence, which reads the QR codes and outputs the audio to a hi-fi system via a notebook computer. As shown, the notebook sort of subs in for – or more accurately sits beside – record player that you might expect to top off such a system.

Encoding and splitting up the data into discreet QR codes is handled by custom qrtape software, which also handles image decoding. The actual reel hardware is constructed almost entirely out of cardboard, with the driving wheel/reel powered by a stepper motor and Arduino setup, along with a rubber band “belt." Lighting for the webcam code reader is handled by six LEDs.

It’s a clever build, both from a software and hardware standpoint. Plus it looks like a great use for those cardboard boxes that you may have piling up at this point!