Would anyone be able to help or offer advice on how to do the following? Would it be Arduino facilitated?
I am making an art object, a kind of portrait, to hang on a wall. The project would have 12 boxes (a little like a kind of checkerboard, only the boxes would not be square). Each box would have a different illustration. Here is the part of the project that relates to my question. I would like to have a button on or near each box. A viewer would push the button, which would activate a voice speaking for around 30 to 60 seconds about the illustration in the box. For example, if each of these "voice" items were formatted in an MP3, would an Arduino device be able to manage the project? I mean so that a viewer could press one button and here one section devoted to what is in the box; and then push another button and hear what is said in relation to that box...etc....etc. for each of the 12 boxes?
Look for an "MP3 Trigger". That might allow buttons to trigger MP3 files directly or may require something like an Arduino to trigger the playing of each file.
Thanks and will do. Does this work alone or does it have to function with a computer. This probably is a very dumb question, but I am a writer and a literature professor and have little or no idea what the process requires beyond my idea that it should be possible. To be specific, the project is a self portrait I have been asked to make. It will consist of 12 of my book covers arranged on a 3 x 4 surface. My idea then is to have a button under or near each one. A viewer would press it and my voice would come on reading a 60 second or so passage from the book. Subsequently, the viewer could do this with each of the twelve covers. My question is about the electronics that will be needed to make this work. I think of it as resembling a greeting / birthday card one can buy that, when opened, plays a tune: only X 12. If not putting a button on or near each book cover, perhaps a console near the entire portrait could have 12 such buttons?
For this you probably want something like a wave or mp3 shield. These shields play pre-recorded sounds from files stored on a SD/micro-SD card. You would give it a simple command to play a particular song or stop playing. For example:
If you just wanted to play one sound for a few seconds, there are chips out there that will do this (and are often in musical birthday cards). However for longer or multiple sounds, you need something with more memory, either a removable SD/micro-SD card or more memory like a MP3 player.
I think that 30 - 60 seconds would probably more than you could achieve with those recordable greetings card systems, but it would be worth checking because that would give you an extremely easy and cheap solution, if it is sufficient.
There are probably some intermediate options based on standalone MP3 players.
The fallback solution of using an Arduino with an MP3 shield and an SD card is certainly viable and not difficult from the software point of view. Making the frame and pushbuttons smart enough to meet your requirements seems like the hardest part of the job to me.
Edited to add: Use the MP3 trigger board that johnwasser linked to - that is by far the best and simplest solution.
THANKS for all these responses. I may be dense, but this is my next question. Will I need a computer for any of these solutions, particularly the MP3 trigger? Moreover, since the art work will be in a public place, having a computer there -- unattended at times -- could be a problem. The MP3 trigger poses less of a risk.
Another question, if I may. What would be an estimate of the longevity of the project? I mean how long do you think it would work? A few weeks? A few months? Years?
Using the mp3 trigger you would not need a computer in the field. You will need a computer and a micro-SD card reader to set up the tracks on the card before the installation. Essentially to use the mp3 trigger, you would need:
The mp3 trigger board;
A micro-SDHC card with the 12 recordings that you want to play;
Twelve momentary buttons, with wiring to connect one end to each of the 12 triggers and the other end to ground;
Some sort of enclosure that has the buttons and pictures outside, and the speaker, mp3 trigger, and power supply inside;
An appropriate power supply (plug or battery);
An amplifier for the speaker;
Speaker.
In terms of how long it will last, I suspect the big problem is how well you make the enclosure with the buttons and whether you have power surges that can destroy the electronics. For really long term use (i.e. years), you might have to worry about whether the micro-SD can survive many, many reads of the files.
Some of these solution will require a computer to install the audio tracks on the MP3 player, but none of them require the computer to remain attached subsequently.
You will need to decide how you are going to power the players. If it's battery powered, you'd need to calculate the current consumption to work out the battery life but you would be looking at perhaps a few days between battery charges rather than months. If it has an external permanent power supply then there's no reason why it wouldn't continue working for decades.
I'm catching on. Great to know that I only need a computer to put the thing together, and then it runs without one. Thanks! Any other tips, especially from anyone who has used the MP3 trigger, would be much appreciated, too. CC