Stype typewriter lets you chat via Skype old-school style

Posted on Jul 28 2011 - 1:29pm by Julius

Are you familiar with the TV series Fringe? For those of you who are, here’s a cool device that lets you communicate through Skype by using an old typewriter. It is similar to what’s used in the TV series, where the characters use a typewriter to communicate with a parallel world, where the equivalent of the typewriter exists. Whatever is typed into it gets typed into its equivalent in the other world, and vice-versa.

Designer Daniel Huhndt may not let people communicate with a parallel world, but his creation, the Stype typewriter, lets you communicate with other people through the Skype messaging service.

By using “some solenoids, relays, push buttons, some parts of a cheap keyboard, an arduino mega and a Mac Mini,” the Stype typewriter can be used to send chat messages online. Whatever the user types into the paper gets sent to the other user, and the replies are typed automatically into the paper, which archives the conversation in the process. Whether your conversations are worth archiving is another matter.

It is a little creepy to watch the typewriter move and type by itself. It is similar to some horror movies that we have seen in the past, where messages from the dead are written without someone writing it. Its safe to say that this machine does not work like that.

The Stype typewriter was first displayed at the Bahaus University in Germany. You can watch it in action here.

Have you seen a more retro way to Skype?

 

via: Analog Amnesty

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