Answering Machine Hack

I’m brainstorming ways to alter a digital answering machine so that it can either be used to engage with more modern technologies, or perform some new function that is valuable/interesting/relevant.

Ideas so far:

  • Integrate Siri
  • Make it reply to my voicemail for me
  • Make it alert me when I have a voicemail on my cell phone
  • Visual voicemail (Visualize how? Artistic interpretation? Feed digital data to Processing?)
  • Find interesting ways to delete messages by connecting sensors/or other input devices to the machine
  • Connect it to something else that I want to be able to “answer” my call (turn on the TV, for example)
  • Connect it to the internet or my computer with Magic Jack
  • Bluetooth connection? Need to research the possibilities more…
  • Feed digital data to Arduino to trigger something
  • Allow it to broadcast messages left on Twitter or maybe project textual transcriptions into a space?
  • Integrate Google Voicecapabilities
    • SMS > email > SMS
    • Voicemail transcription
    • email-able (shareable) voicemail
  • “The medium is the message”?
  • Alerts every time my question on Stack Overflow is answered

Maybe it doesn’t need to work fully? Maybe it’s just the suggestion of this functionality that’s interesting?

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