REC-BOX
Exploring permanence of memory and analog media experience through personalized VHS Tapes and player.
Recipe Box Overview
The Recipe Box reimagines a VHS player as a memory box for my own family recipes, linking food, memory, and family rituals to physical manifestation. Just like how VHS tapes once held treasured home movies, here they become physical carriers for my passed along Chinese family artifacts
The tactile act of inserting a tape mirrors the act of retrieving a family recipe, embedding familiarity into the interaction.
Project Demonstration
Watch the VHS Player Recipe Box in action
Technical Implementation
Currently, the Recipe Box recognizes three unique tapes through a sophisticated conductive tape system that bridges circuits when inserted.
How It Works
Tape 1 (Left strip)
Plays 001.mp3 when inserted
Tape 2 (Right strip)
Plays 002.mp3 when inserted
Tape 3 (Far strip)
Plays 003.mp3 when inserted
System Architecture
Inputs
Each VHS tape carries conductive strips that bridge a shared 5V strip to specific digital pins (10, 11, 12). Pull-down resistors ensure pins remain LOW until a tape completes the circuit.
Outputs
Each pin corresponds to an audio file stored on SD card. Two LEDs (pins 8, 9) light up while audio plays, creating visual feedback.
Logic
State-tracking ensures audio plays only once per insertion and resets when tape is removed, preventing glitching.
Recipe Box: Conceptual Overview
Recipe Box is a speculative object that blurs the boundary between media storage and memory storage. In a world where recipes are often digitized and detached from their emotional roots, this project reintroduces physicality, tactility, and ritual into how we pass on food knowledge. It asks: What if recipes were archived not as text or images, but as experiences embedded in objects that demand touch, play, and care?
Design Process: From Concept to Creation
Initial Sketch
Early conceptual drawings exploring the idea of transforming a VHS player into a recipe memory box.
Continuing Development
Continuing the conceptual development and exploring the interaction between VHS tapes and recipe audio systems.
Construction & Assembly
The Recipe Box was built using an Arduino Uno, a DFPlayer Mini module, copper/aluminum tape, LEDs, and a handmade cardboard VHS player. Each component was carefully integrated to create a intuitiveuser experience.
Materials & Components
Gathering Arduino Uno, DFPlayer Mini, LEDs, and cardboard materials.
Audio Setup
Installing speaker system and testing audio playback functionality.
Circuit Wiring
Connecting Arduino, DFPlayer Mini, and conductive tape detection system.
Final Construction
Completed VHS player with all components integrated and ready for testing.
The most distinctive feature is the physical recipe retrieval system: inserting a VHS tape triggers a specific recipe audio file.
Each tape becomes an artifact that represents a memory, turning recipes into something you can "play" as if they were old home movies. To add a sense of presence and feedback, two LEDs light up when a recipe audio is playing, turning the box into both a functional and theatrical storytelling device.
Key Features
- Physical recipe retrieval system where each VHS tape triggers a specific recipe audio file, transforming recipes into playable memories.
- Conductive tape detection system using Arduino Uno, DFPlayer Mini, and copper/aluminum strips for seamless interaction.
- LED feedback system that illuminates during audio playback, creating both functional and theatrical storytelling elements.
Intended User Feeling
The project aims to evoke nostalgia and warmth. Users feel like they are handling treasured artifacts from the past — VHS tapes that once carried family memories — now reimagined to hold something equally personal: recipes. The tactile act transforms a technical circuit into a ritual of memory, food, and care.
Thank you for exploring the REC-BOX
Recipe Box is an interactive object at the intersection of speculative design, physical computing, and media archaeology. Built from cardboard, conductive strips, Arduino, and a DFPlayer Mini, it transforms VHS tapes into carriers of family recipes, blending tactile ritual with audio memory.