We can use our phones to take photos, call for a ride, check our bank accounts, and do all kinds of other things that seemed impossible not that long ago. However, they can’t control the rain, switch between night and day, or summon a horse (among many other things). That functionality is reserved for the ocarina from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. And while those features won’t be coming to any platform any time soon (except for maybe summoning a horse), a new video from Sufficiently Advanced shows the best possible compromise: A smart home controlled by playing an ocarina
As first pointed out to us by Mashable, Allen Pan created an automated home system he can control by simply playing songs from Ocarina of Time on his own ocarina. He matched songs from the game with real-world functions as well: playing “Bolero of Fire” turns on the heat, “Sun’s Song” controls the lights—things like that. Actually using the device is simple as long as you know how to play the songs, but setting it up seems a lot more complicated.
The Alexa-like hub is based on a Raspberry Pi and a microphone, along with a light that indicates when it hears the ocarina being played. When you successfully execute a command, that classic jingle from when you do something good in the game plays. The hub connects to a bunch of WiFi-enabled devices set up around Pan’s house, all of which it looks like he made himself.
If anybody can do this, it’s Pan. You might recognize the guy from a different few things over the past couple years: He made this viral video featuring a magnet-powered version of Thor’s hammer, made more superhero gear with Grant Imahara, and was a contestant on MythBusters: The Search, hosted by our own Kyle Hill.
Featured Image: Nintendo
GIF: Giphy
