At The Stock Pot, maker Dillan Stock is channeling some serious love for the analog days with a device that nails that retro style while sneaking in the perks of modern smart home tech. Meet the Modern VHS Player, a clever project that uses NFC and ESPHome to bring the VHS experience screaming into 2025—no magnetic tape required.
Instead of old-school tapes, you’ve got 3D-printed cartridges that look and feel just like those classic VHS cassettes. Each one has a mini movie poster slotted into the front, doubling as a label that’s both practical and totally evocative, like sliding in The Goonies without the rewind hassle. The cartridges snap together in two parts, designed smartly to skip wasteful 3D-printing supports. Tucked inside each is an NFC tag, a tiny chip that’s the secret sauce, holding a unique ID that triggers all kinds of actions in your smart home setup.
- 【Video to Digital Converter】Effortlessly convert and store analog video and audio signals into digital formats, Recording resolution up to 1080P...
- 【USB/SD Card for Storage】Equipped with a 3.0" preview LCD and built-in speaker. No capacity limitation for the USB drive or TF card (not...
- 【Video & Audio Format】Store video in MP4 format or audio in MP3 format. Supports NTSC-M/J 3.58, NTSC 4.43, PAL B/G/H/I/D (PAL/N) standard TV...
The reader itself is 3D-printed too, with built-in springs that give you that perfect clunk when you pop in a cartridge, just like the real deal. Underneath the retro shell, there’s an ESP32 microcontroller running the show, paired with an NFC reader board. This isn’t about playing actual VHS tapes—nah, the ESP32 sends the NFC tag’s ID to ESPHome, which ties into Home Assistant. From there, it can do all sorts of cool stuff: fire up a movie on your Plex server, turn on the TV, dim the lights, or even kickstart your coffee maker if you’re feeling extra. The magic’s in how flexible it is—ESPHome lets you script pretty much anything, turning each cartridge into a custom key for your smart home.
The cartridges have a satisfying weight and clean design that make you want to pick them up. The reader’s springy mechanism adds a tactile kick that you just don’t get from touchscreens or voice commands. But it’s not just living in the past—thanks to ESPHome’s open-source setup, it plays nice with streaming services and smart devices, making it as useful as it is nostalgic.
Stock’s creation is also super approachable for DIY fans. He’s shared everything on his site—3D models, ESPHome code, even label templates—free for anyone to use. This isn’t some locked-down prototype; it’s a call for makers to jump in. The 3D files are easy to print, the electronics are simple to source, and the software’s a breeze to set up with ESPHome and Home Assistant. Want a cartridge that cues up Jurassic Park and tweaks your lights for a jungle vibe? A bit of code can make it happen.
The real brilliance here is how it ditches the headaches of old media. No more fuzzy tracking, no warped tapes, no “be kind, rewind” guilt trips. You get the joy of handling a VHS-style cartridge paired with the instant kick of digital playback. It’s proof you can have nostalgia without the hassle.
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