This Sunday is the Academy Awards, and it's a pretty big deal. Some people watch because they love movies, some people watch for celebrity spectacle and fashion, and some people watch just to see who won the office pool.
Then, there are people like me. I watch the Oscars to witness those unpredictably awkward live-TV moments. One of my favorites is when an award winner who has just been given the professional honor of a lifetime starts giving a prolific and emotional speech, only for the producers to start the music and "play them off." A swelling of music indicates that it's time to "wrap it up," cutting off the winner and forcing them to talk hurriedly and become flustered.
Playing someone off is a massively passive-aggressive move --- and, as a person who is terrified of confrontation, I love it. It works beautifully in the awards context, so naturally I began to wonder how it could work IRL. Inspired by the spirit of the Oscars and Dave Chappelle's 'Wrap it up' box, I made myself the "Oscar Shh-tatue" to bring the phenomena of playing someone off into everyday life.
The Oscar Shh-tatue is an Academy Award look-alike that is designed to sit on your desk. It looks innocuous from afar...but the up-close engraving message is a bit more aggressive.
Hidden on the bottom of the base is a small momentary push button.
Inside the box is a SparkFun RedBoard, SparkFun MP3 Player Shield with stackable headers, microSD card, AA battery pack and mini speaker.
The button on the bottom remains pressed while standing on a hard surface. Lift the trophy up, and the button releases, triggering the track to start playing after a short delay. Hand this to a friend who is talking too much, and after a few seconds the music will begin to play them off, indicating that your friend should stop talking. This saves you the discomfort of having to say to your friend's face, "Hey, man, I'm busy; do you mind leaving me alone for a while?"
Making the Oscar Shh-tatue involves some electronic components as well as objects for fabrication.
Fabrication is where you get to be creative. I ordered an imitation Oscar trophy online and removed the trophy from the base. Then, I used the laser cutter and black acrylic to fabricate the new base and put the trophy on top of that. I made my base 4''x4''x4'' to ensure that I had plenty of room inside for my electronics.
To build the circuit, you will need:
Before you build out the Oscar Shh-tatue, drop your MP3 files on the microSD card. You can use any track you like; just make sure it's labeled 'track001.mp3.'
Putting the hardware together could not be simpler with the SparkFun MP3 Player Shield. First, solder a set of stackable headers on the shield. Then pop it on top of your RedBoard. Solder a wire to each lead of the momentary push button. Strip a small segment of the opposite ends and place one into a ground pin and one in digital pin 10 on your shield. Then, plug the speaker into the shield and the battery into the RedBoard.
Copy and paste the following code into your Arduino IDE and upload it to your SparkFun RedBoard. //Oscar Shh-tatue by Melissa Felderman for SparkFun Electronics
// libraries
#include <SPI.h>
#include <SdFat.h>
#include <SdFatUtil.h>
#include <SFEMP3Shield.h>
//state mp3 palyer shield
SFEMP3Shield MP3player;
//initialize button pin and variable to store button value
int button = 10;
int buttonVal;
//state sd card
SdFat sd;
//boolean to ensure song doesn't re-start once playing
boolean playing = false;
void setup() {
//sets button pin to input
pinMode(button, INPUT_PULLUP);
//set up sd card
if(!sd.begin(9, SPI_HALF_SPEED)) sd.initErrorHalt();
if (!sd.chdir("/")) sd.errorHalt("sd.chdir");
//initializes mp3 player and set volume
MP3player.begin();
MP3player.setVolume(10,10);
}
void loop() {
//read value of button
buttonVal = digitalRead(button);
if(buttonVal == HIGH && playing == false){ //if button is pressed
delay(6000); //wait 6 seconds
MP3player.playTrack(1); //tigger track
playing = true; //chnage boolen to true, song cannot restart now.
}else if(buttonVal == LOW && playing == true){ //if button is pressed again while music is playing
MP3player.stopTrack(); //stop playing track
playing = false; //indicate that music is no longer playing so can be re-started
}
}
Now put it all together inside your fabricated base, and put that shh-tatue to good use!
Share your thoughts and feedback with us in the comments below.
Why not a 555 timer to trigger the MP3 shield? Less $$ than an Arduino board. <shrug>
There's always more than one way to skin a cat
While I fully understand the comment, please respect that CHILDREN use this website as a resource for classwork and labwork. Even though they probably use the vulgar language on the playground, as educators we need to maintain civility, morality, and set a good example for them. Thank you
That's why we used symbols instead of spelling out the actual word! :) We do our best to maintain authenticity on the blog while still being respectful if the audience. Thanks for your feedback - we appreciate it!
I wanted to give you a heads up that the "Oscar Shh-tatue" project's labeling appears to inadvertently support position that celebrities should not use their spotlight to draw attention to social issues but instead should "SHUT THE F@#K UP".
I am confident that this was unintentional but I would implore you to edit the label to provide a less confrontational message that is more suitable to SparkFun's general audience (Time's Up? Roll Credits? Long Winded? Pedantic? Rambling Explanation?).
Aside from the political overtones, the current wording delivers a clearly hostile message. I am confident that SparkFun would not condone one of their employee to telling a coworker to "SHUT THE F@#K UP" in mid-sentence, even by handing them a statue (HR gets heartburn just thinking about it).
And I am sure SparkFun does not want to send the message to their young readers that it is every acceptable to interact with their fellow students, teachers, parents, bosses or anyone really, with the phase "SHUT THE F@#K UP".
We're just trying to have a little fun, Shane.
Thank you for your feedback! We appreciate your concern, but maintain that this project was made in good humor and is NOT meant to be any kind of social or political statement. Just a gag amongst friends. :) Those are all great caption ideas - thanks for sharing!