Flipper Light Messenger

[late nebula]

I'm starting this project post because I'd like to discuss with the community the possibility of developing a firmware add on that utilizes the IR pick up and emitter for performing line of sight, wireless, data-less, non-radio wave communications. With this function, flipper users can enter a short text message to be sent to another flipper user. When they are ready to send they point their IR emitter at the other user. The other user points their own flipper at the sender so they can receive the line of sight message. Once the receiving flipper identifies the IR frequency, the program will decrypt the message and display the message to the user. Let's brainstorm on this..

I'll start building something with chatgpt. Once I have some code to look at I'll share it here.

[late nebula]

Nobody's found this idea interesting yet....?

[compact owl]

I want this!

[late nebula]

I'm developing the program. Now I Just need to get my hands on a flipper lol waiting for the restock so I can test the new firmware version

After I add the plug-in program. I am designing it with encryption in mind. Once I have the code finished I'll share it

[thin musk]

I am.ver interested in this!

[late nebula]

I know doesn't it sound kind of fun, kind of like canned phones except with light beams

[thin musk]

Yeah for sure. And L.O.S. would be perfect with your group of flipper buddies out in public.

[compact owl]

Just restocked!

[late nebula]

Oh I know I saw a couple hours ago. I'm putting my order in before they're all gone.

[compact owl]

Are you gonna buy two?

[late nebula]

I wish I could afford it right now. I only had enough to get one with a dev board

I'm going to try to convince some of my friends to buy one that way I can get some better experimentation done

It would be good to have a group of three to make sure the encryption works

[late nebula]

The Flipper Zero is a device that can be modified to send and receive messages using its IR emitter and receiver.

We discussed the range of the IR emitter and receiver, and determined that it may be limited to a few meters indoors and outdoors.

We decided to use AES encryption to secure the messages being sent between devices.

In order to protect the privacy of the users, we decided to use a passphrase-based authentication mechanism. The sender of a message will need to enter a passphrase in order to send a message, and the receiver of the message will need to enter the same passphrase in order to decrypt and read the message.

We discussed the potential for attacks on the system, including interception of messages and disruption of the IR signal. To mitigate these risks, we will include message authentication codes (MACs) to detect tampering, and will use encryption to prevent eavesdropping.

Here is a step-by-step outline of how the system could work:

Users determine a passphrase that they will use to authenticate messages between themselves.

The sender of a message enters the passphrase into their Flipper Zero device, along with the message they wish to send.

The Flipper Zero device encrypts the message using AES encryption, using the passphrase as the key.

The device then sends the encrypted message using its IR emitter.

The receiver of the message points their Flipper Zero device at the sender's device to receive the message.

The receiver enters the same passphrase into their device, and the device uses it to decrypt the message using AES encryption.

The device verifies the message authentication code (MAC) to ensure that the message has not been tampered with.

The decrypted message is displayed on the receiver's device for them to read.

If the receiver wishes to reply to the message, they can repeat the process, entering the passphrase and composing a message to send back.

The process continues as long as the users wish to communicate with each other, with each message being encrypted and authenticated to ensure the privacy and security of the communication.

(this is a rough outline of this project I've been working on.)

[late nebula]

I know. It would really hold true to how a pod of dolphins talk to each other.

This would work great with the flipper friend project.

[signal lily]

Bear in mind the IR function is half duplex simplex on the Flipper.
So you can only send Or receive at any given moment, can't do both at the same time.
So you'll need to factor that into anything you design

[late nebula]

So you mean it built as simplex. That's okay because it's more ideal when using photonic Waves.

You will need to send your message and point your flipper in the direction of the sender until you receive a confirmation signal from the receiving flipper.

Sorry I made a typo.. you will point your flipper to the message sender and once your flipper has received the message and decrypted it, your flipper will send a confirmation signal to the sending flipper

But encryption will be based on a passphrase

[obtuse cedar]

I'm very interested in seeing where this goes.

[leaden zenith]

I love it, I want this!

Sub-GHz pinging of nearby flipper devices would be pretty cool. A sort of find-a-friend feature. Both users have the pinging app open, app regularly sends a signal that others can receive if they're looking for them. Still some footwork involved in figuring out where your potential flipper friend is, but could encourage a bunch of geeks to move around a bit more lol

[obtuse cedar]

@late nebulacan we get an update on what you have so far

[late nebula]

I'll be honest with you I kind of put it on the back burner for some other projects, and I was waiting to see if there was much of a response from the community. I'll share what I have so far with you when I get home tonight.

[late nebula]

I like this we could use the sub ghz to find other nearby flippers, and once we have found the other nearby flipper we can start sending out IR messages

[obtuse cedar]

Aw man ok no problem mate.

[late nebula]

I'll take this into consideration while editing the code

[warm dome]

Hey, you got a repo already started for this? @late nebula

[tawny crow]

This reminds me of Nintendo pictochat, I think they used a similar method
Close/Medium range IR chat would be great to have