'Making Things Talk'--DIY projects that communicate

'Making Things Talk,' a new book from O'Reilly--the publisher of 'Make' magazine--shows how to make do-it-yourself toys that can communicate.

(Credit: O'Reilly Publishing)

Who doesn't love cool, do-it-yourself toys, the kind of projects that Make magazine has been celebrating for the last couple of years?

Well, now think of such things and imagine them talking to you, to each other or even to your cat.

That's the premise of Making Things Talk, a new book by Tom Igoe due out Oct. 15 from O'Reilly, publisher of Make.

The idea is just that, according to a press release I got this morning from O'Reilly: How to bestow "the power of communications upon your favorite tech creations through simple projects that present the guidelines for electronic verbosity."

Now, as a geek, I can't really help but salivate over that line. I don't think I have the skills myself to manifest Igoe's instructions, but I know a heck of a lot of people who do, and once I get my copy, I'm marching it over to one or two of them and offering a trade: the book for some talking toy.

An example of what Igoe teaches, courtesty of the release: "The Pet Lover: Want to play with your pet while you're away? Discover the 'networked cat cam' and the interactive pet bed that sends you personal emails!"

It sounds like playing Nabaztag with your own cat! How great is that?

Igoe, meanwhile, is a teacher at New York University's terrific Interactive Telecommunications Program, and that in and of itself is reason enough to buy the book. So if you have any toys you'd like to find talking to you when you get home from work--and who doesn't?--check this out.

[Brentbb0]

It'll never happen

The only people who think machines are going to someday "talk" are people who don't understand what computers are, or much of anything about who "they" are.

You can't even get a computer to translate accurately from one language to another, which is infinitely less complex than it ever would be to get one to talk.

[roadbiker5k]

Read the book

People who think machines will never talk have a limited view of what talking is.

The book isn't about machines talking in the human language sense: it's about machines talking to each other using existing mechanisms such as TCP/IP, Bluetooth, and Zigbee, something machines have been doing for quite some time.

Included in the book are plans for using microcontrollers and sensors to monitor or respond to physical input. Those microcontrollers can then communicate, or 'talk' to other systems based on their programming.

One example: using a VOC sensor and microcontroller to monitor the level of solvent fumes in a garage and then communicate an alert wirelessly to a system in the house if the concentration of fumes is too high.