This radio is an artificial intelligence powered radio station called WBRG which broadcasts from the fictional world of Woodbridge, VA set in the 1930s era. The music and programming is all authentic to the era, and at the top of the hour the artificial intelligence DJ will announce the time and possibly give an update to the day and include the current (actual) weather forecast for the day. Everything is decided by the AI powering the station, which has been programmed to believe it’s a real radio announcer in the 1930s.

At the quarter hour (:15) and three-quarter hour (:45), the AI may choose to give a news bulletin, featuring positive fictional news broadcasts set in this world. Each news bulletin will be sponsored by a local fictitious business (with the exception of a commercial for the store featuring Beamer, of course).

While playing music, the AI will continuously check for severe weather alerts from the National Weather Service. If a severe weather alert is issued for our area, the AI will notify the listening audience of the alert and advise them to take appropriate actions. All of this will be set in the in-universe fictional 1930s Woodbridge, VA universe where war and poverty and unemployment and the like don’t exist.

 

Top of the hour station identification

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By law, radio stations must provide a station identification at the top of each hour. For this, the artificial intelligence will give the current time and announce the station identification. For certain hours (such as daylight working hours) where there are a lot of listeners, the AI will give a weather update and forecast for the day, as well as a positive and encouraging message. This dialogue and speech is completely and totally generated from the artificial intelligence working within the universe using live weather data from the National Weather Service (which was called “The Weather Bureau” back then). If there are any urgent weather alerts, the AI will also mention these to the listening audience.

For station identification during closing time of the store, the DJ will encourage the listeners to finish up their day and spend time with their loved ones.

In the evening hours, there will be a night DJ which will have a quieter voice and personality, and will omit news and weather updates.

 

News announcements

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At the quarter of the hour (:15), the radio announcer will give the news bulletins. The news announcer is Artie MacCaulister, and the news he gives are all made up and within the parameters of the in-universe world of WBRG. Before getting to the news, Artie will report on the current weather conditions outside the news studio, including the temperature. He will also report if there are any severe weather alerts. Then he will move on to the day’s news bulletins, which are programmed to be uplifting, positive, and humorous as well as relevant for the current time-of-year.

Omitted are any bulletins about crime, war, poverty, etc. Each news bulletin is sponsored, which are random fictional businesses (though many are named after real kitties and doggies to honor them).

Every fifteen minutes the radio will check the National Weather Service for any urgent weather bulletins. If it finds one, the AI will break in to warn the listening audience of the current weather alert.

 

Commercial Breaks

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Periodically, the artificial intelligence will perform a commercial break. When, the commercials it plays, and how many it plays are up to the AI. The commercials are all authentic radio spots from the era (with the exception of a couple of Easter eggs).

 

Halloween

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On Halloween, the radio will only play the radio broadcast of Orson Welles’ 1938 Halloween day performance of “The World of the Worlds”. (Please note: This will play regardless of which station is selected.)

 

Christmastime

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Between December 15th and December 31st, the radio will only play 1930s Christmas music and commercials. (Please note: This will play regardless of which station is selected).

 

The Project

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The unit is a Raspberry Pi 4 running Linux and the code is Python. The volume control, station switch, indicator lamp, and connections to the GPIO are all done by me, and meant to be modular so that I can remove and replace hardware as necessary.

 

Conclusion

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This project was inspired by my aunt and uncle (Lucille and David) who were born in the 1930s and helped raise me, and the old vacuum tube radio I inherited from them. I decided to create this project to use their radio and honor them.

This project has been a labor of love to honor those I’ve lost, as well as an exploration into the current capabilities of artificial intelligence. I’m always astonished at what AI can accomplish, even at the very dawn of its arrival.

This has been a fun project both from a hardware point-of-view, but also delving into the wonderful long past world of the 1930s as well as the contributions and capabilities of AI to help make this all possible.

With eternal love and thanks and adoration to my beloved ML and DD, this is WBRG.

Stations

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The radio has four “stations”, which are selected by the right station knob. The four stations are:

1) General Music Programming: This station plays a good mix of programming and commercials from the 1930s era.

2) Lost Haven Radio: This station plays original music and commercials from the 1930s that’s incorporated into one of my favorite video games of all time, Mafia (part 1).

3) Drama and Mysteries: The last selector on the station knob plays radio drama plays, such as detective mysteries and performances of “The Shadow”. Perfect for late night edge-of-the-seat insomniacs.

4) Live Sports and Performances: This station plays broadcasts that were carried across the air using shortwave transmitters to beam live programming to listeners across the world. In addition to live performances, this also includes live broadcasts of the World Series and boxing matches - just the thing for a warm summer day’s dozing.

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