The Project

The Goal of GruePhone 2.1 is to be able to play a number of classic text based computer games, including text adventure games using nothing but an old phone.  I have recently expanded this into other text based games like Hunt the Wumpus. This is accomplished using a small, ARM based embeddable computer called a “chip” from a company that has since gone under.  This will read the descriptions to the user via a text-to-speech (TTS) engine, and listen for user input via a speech-to-text (STT) engine and feed that back to the game.

The goal of GruePhone 1.0 was to port Zork I (via a z-code interpreter) to an embedded platform, and enclose that and an old modem inside a telephone, so that the game can be played from a teletype, TDD, or old computer with an acoustically coupled modem.

GruePhones 2.0 and 2.1 were displayed at Bay Area Maker’s Faire, a few times, and twice at the East Bay Mini Maker Faire.  Version 1.0 was exhibited at the bay area faire in 2011.