Voice recognition is making it easier to control your smart home using products like the Amazon Echo, but why talk when you can whistle? YouTube tinkerer Allen Pan customized his home automation system to respond to melodies from the N64 classic The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Each command is performed on an ocarina (what else?) and fits thematically with the item it controls — play the Bolero of Fire melody, for example, and the heating comes on; play Epona’s Song, and it unlocks the car.
Zelda-inspired hack lets you control your smart home with an ocarina
It’s completely ingenious and, of course, completely insecure (not that anyone is suggesting otherwise). We have already seen how the lack of verification with voice-controlled systems can lead to trouble, so if you’re thinking of switching from Alexa to Zelda to control your smart home, maybe think again. Or, come up with some fiendishly complicated melodies to use instead. Here’s our first suggestion.
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.











