AI interdimensional phone entertains party guests like it’s 1999

Despite not being invited to maker Austin Mutschler-Hickam’s 90s-themed birthday party, I was interested in his Raspberry Pi–themed centrepiece: an AI-powered landline phone that talks to guests, gives them clues, and sends them on a mystery tour around the house.

Modding 90s hardware

Austin decided to replace a “vintage” (are we already calling them vintage?) landline phone’s internal electronics with a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W, which would be soldered directly to the speaker and microphone to take control of them. He went with the AT&T Trimline 210 model primarily for its classic 90s look and large clamshell design, which could comfortably fit the Raspberry Pi inside. It also helped that this model of phone is still in production, meaning the pressure of one false slip with a soldering iron destroying a one-off antique wasn’t there.

Software was developed, with the help of LLMs, to emulate the phone’s keypad functions, allowing guests to dial, answer questions by pressing keys, and hang up. A small server was also created to simulate a phone network, allowing AI characters to call into the phone and speak to the guests. Austin goes into a lot of detail about how he captured individual key presses, the audio HAT required to get the speakers working with AI, and the pain of testing the phone’s microphone in his build guide.

Murder Interdimensional mystery party

In making his twist on those murder mystery parties we used to have — where guests receive a card telling them who their character is and then chaotically try to follow a list of instructions in tandem with other partygoers in the hopes that a fictional detective solves the crime before the dessert course is served — Austin crafted a more streamlined approach.

Picture the scene:

“A mysterious frequency becomes unstable, trapping guests in another dimension. Answering the phone, they meet Doctor Henderson, who attempts to help them stabilise the frequency to get them back home.”

Guests await calls from an AI character who feeds players clues once they’ve completed puzzles set by their phone-in guide. OpenAI Realtime API, which runs on another Raspberry Pi outside of the phone, allows the AI characters to have live conversations with guests.

Rickroll warning

If guests get impatient waiting for others to solve puzzles, they can entertain themselves by dialling out on the phone to request 90s hits (which are added, in real time, to the party’s Spotify queue). They can even speak to a faux Blockbuster rep and pretend to rent videos for a near-authentic 90s experience. Blockbuster was an elite Friday night experience, and speaking to even an AI version of a VHS vendor would heal me some.

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