Open Source · Meta · Tom's Hardware
The open-source codec Meta rolled out in 2022 converts a waveform into discrete tokens that a matching decoder turns back
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Each of the eight QR codes carries a 1-byte ID plus a chunk of the token stream, four codes per side in a nod to flipping a vinyl record.
Key facts
- LoRa pairs two ESP32s with REYAX RYLR998 modules on 866 MHz, moving the file in 160-byte packets with an ACK-and-retry protocol
- That pacing is deliberately conservative for duty-cycle compliance, and it's a far cry from the 190 KB/s another developer hit recently by streaming QR codes between phones at 60 FPS
- Printing software on paper dates back to the Cauzin Softstrip of 1985, a 2D barcode that let magazines publish programs at up to 5,500 bytes per strip and faded once floppy disks got cheap
- One QR code tops out at roughly 3KB of binary data, with Makestreme hitting the practical limit at about 3.3KB, so a 2.9MB MP3 would need close to a thousand of them
Summary
A maker known as Makestreme has printed an entire two-minute song onto a sheet of paper, publishing the full build and source code on Hackster.io. One QR code tops out at roughly 3KB of binary data, with Makestreme hitting the practical limit at about 3.3KB, so a 2.9MB MP3 would need close to a thousand of them. The open-source codec Meta released in 2022 converts a waveform into discrete tokens that a matching decoder turns back into audio, and at the project's 3 kbps setting, the reconstructed song reportedly held up well. LoRa pairs two ESP32s with REYAX RYLR998 modules on 866 MHz, moving the file in 160-byte packets with an ACK-and-retry protocol.