Elegant Visual Interface to Global Streaming Radio

[jesse_the_k]

I love radio.

I grew up on the US east coast in the late 60s and early 70s, when FM radio was just beginning to flourish. The hot music of the early 60s came over the AM airwaves. AM signals can travel great distances as they bounce against the underside of the ionosphere. I spent many a late night twirling the dials just right to hear the Grand Old Opry (WSM Nashville, TN) and WBZ Boston (from the town I’d left behind). In my last few years at school, I got hooked on nearby FM stations: the listener-supported highly-left-wing WBAI at 99.7; the silky voices of Rosko and Alison Steele the Night Bird on WNEW (later WPLJ); the completely unpredictable free-form output from WFUV; the very beginnings of NPR via Philadelphia’s WXYY.

I spent around a year in bed when I first got sick. Fortunately my attention span was just strong enough to handle shortwave programming from Radio Nederlands, the CBC and the BBC — hooray for 15 minute programs! I definitely caught signals from faraway places, but wasn’t a formal DXer.

I’m delighted to report an exquisite interface to global internet radio

radio.garden

thanks to a NYTimes article which is probably behind a paywall.

Radio Garden offers a zoomable globe—poke at a location, and all the available streams appear.

As far as I can tell, it’s completely inaccessible to screen reader users.

BTW, Dreamwidth's Markdown interpreter doesn't recognize the .garden as a valid domain name.

Comments

[julian]

Wow, fantastic. Thank you!

[jesse_the_k]

<3. Just learned there’s an iOS app, if that’s your jam.

[sovay]

I’m delighted to report an exquisite interface to global internet radio

Thank you!

[jesse_the_k]

Let me know if you find something soothing? A film score station, perhaps?

[emceeaich]

Very cool.

It'd be fun to see a WebVR version of that where you can spin the globe with a controller and change focus.

Questions after visiting webvr.info

[jesse_the_k]

Can WebVR provide spatial audio feedback? Does the navigation/interaction happen via eye gaze/head tilt?

[kalmn]

I love radio.garden! I listen to radio in Guangzhou sometimes-- the station we listened to when we were travelling there, adopting the kids. I can't understand any of the content, but the music is pleasant, and the talk and commercials are in the standard pop radio cadence, so it's nice background noise.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_FM_Radio_Guangdong

[jesse_the_k]

Oh ... this reminded me of an insomnia technique;

Playing a language that sounds like it should be understandable—at some point my brain just gives up. The music of Dutch is very close to English, and to my surprise, so is Magyar

https://BuddhaFM.hu

[mirabile]

Thank you for that link! What a wonderful find.

Happy new year!

You’re most welcome and ....

[jesse_the_k]

Back at you!