TagTable - RFID Video Kiosk

A Windows-based video kiosk application that plays videos when RFID-tagged objects are placed on a reader. Built with Rust and egui for seamless, instant video playback.

Features

• RFID Tag Detection: Interfaces with USB HID RFID readers (EM4100/TK4100 125kHz tags)
• Instant Video Playback: Hardware-accelerated 4K video via libmpv - no external player needed
• Admin Mode: Press Ctrl+Shift+A to access the admin interface
  • Assign Mode: Map RFID tags to videos
  • Manage Mode: View and delete existing mappings
  • Settings Mode: Configure videos, logo, playback, and system settings
• Customizable Logo: Display your own logo when idle
• Update Notifications: Checks for updates on startup
• Product Key Licensing: Online license validation with offline grace period
• Mock Mode: Test the application without RFID hardware

Quick Start

Installation (Windows)

1. Download the latest release from tagtable.download
2. Run TagTable-X.X.X-Setup.exe
3. Launch TagTable from the Start Menu

See docs/INSTALL.md for detailed installation instructions.

Basic Usage

1. Launch TagTable - Starts in fullscreen mode
2. Add Videos - Place video files in the videos/ folder
3. Enter Admin Mode - Press Ctrl+Shift+A
4. Assign Tags - Select a video, then scan a tag
5. Press Tab - Switch between Assign/Manage/Settings modes
6. Exit - Press ESC to return to normal mode

See docs/USAGE.md for the complete user guide.

Technical Overview

Architecture

TagTable uses a state machine architecture with three primary states:

                    ┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
                    │                                     │
                    ▼                                     │
┌──────────┐   RFID Scan    ┌───────────┐   Video Ends   │
│   IDLE   │ ─────────────► │  PLAYING  │ ───────────────┘
│  (Logo)  │   (mapped tag) │  (Video)  │
└──────────┘                └───────────┘
     │
     │ Ctrl+Shift+A
     ▼
┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐
│            ASSIGNMENT (Admin)            │
│  ┌────────┐  ┌────────┐  ┌──────────┐   │
│  │ Assign │  │ Manage │  │ Settings │   │
│  └────────┘  └────────┘  └──────────┘   │
│         (Tab key cycles modes)           │
└──────────────────────────────────────────┘

Tech Stack

Module Structure

src/
├── main.rs           # Entry point, CLI args, event loop, app initialization
├── state.rs          # State machine: AppState, AdminMode, AdminState
├── ui.rs             # UI rendering: idle screen, admin panels, settings
├── config.rs         # Configuration: Config, Mapping, PlaybackConfig
├── player.rs         # Video playback: libmpv hardware-accelerated player
├── version.rs        # Version info and update checking
├── license.rs        # Product key licensing with online validation
├── assets.rs         # Embedded assets (default logo)
├── paths.rs          # Path resolution and data directories
└── input/
    ├── mod.rs        # Input handler interface
    ├── rfid.rs       # RFID tag detection (10-digit buffer)
    └── admin_trigger.rs  # Ctrl+Shift+A detection

Key Concepts

Immediate Mode GUI (egui)

• UI is rebuilt every frame based on current state
• No retained widget state - simple, predictable rendering
• Ideal for kiosk applications with simple UI needs

RFID as HID Keyboard

• RFID readers emulate USB keyboards
• Output: 10 decimal digits + Enter key
• Application captures keystrokes and buffers them
• Timeout-based detection (50ms default)

Hardware-Accelerated Video Playback

• libmpv with OpenGL render API
• Hardware decoding: D3D11VA (Windows), VAAPI (Linux), V4L2 (Pi)
• Smooth 4K playback on modest hardware
• Supports MP4, MOV, AVI, MKV, WebM

JSON Configuration

• config.json: Application settings (video directory, logo, playback)
• mapping.json: Tag-to-video associations
• Both auto-created with defaults if missing

Configuration

config.json

{
  "video_directory": "./videos",
  "input_timeout_ms": 50,
  "playback_cooldown_ms": 2000,
  "admin_code_enabled": true,
  "fullscreen": true,
  "mock_mode": false,
  "logo": {
    "path": "./logo.png",
    "display_mode": "centered",
    "opacity": 1.0
  },
  "playback": {
    "volume": 1.0,
    "loop_video": false,
    "scale_mode": "fit",
    "end_behavior": "return_to_idle",
    "fade_duration_ms": 2000
  }
}

mapping.json

{
  "0008265812": "intro_video.mp4",
  "0009912345": "product_demo.mp4"
}

Simple key-value mapping of 10-digit RFID tag IDs to video filenames.

Requirements

Target System (Windows)

• Windows 10/11 (64-bit)
• USB RFID Reader (125kHz, HID keyboard emulation)
• Video files in supported formats (MP4, MOV, AVI, MKV, WebM)

Development (WSL2/Linux)

• Rust 1.70+
• mingw-w64 (for cross-compilation to Windows)
• just (command runner)

Development

Setup

# Install cross-compilation tools
just setup

# Or manually:
rustup target add x86_64-pc-windows-gnu
sudo apt-get install -y mingw-w64

Building

# Build Windows release binary
just build-win

# Build and bundle into dist/
just bundle

# Run in mock mode (test without hardware)
just run-mock

# Run locally in windowed mode
just run

# Build Windows installer (requires Inno Setup)
just installer

Build System

The project uses just as a command runner. Key recipes:

Cross-Compilation

TagTable is developed on Linux/WSL2 and cross-compiled for Windows:

• Host: Linux x86_64
• Target: x86_64-pc-windows-gnu
• Toolchain: MinGW-w64 (GNU toolchain for Windows)

The .cargo/config.toml configures the Windows linker automatically.

Project Structure

tagtable/
├── Cargo.toml           # Dependencies and project config
├── Cargo.lock           # Locked dependency versions
├── config.json          # Runtime configuration
├── mapping.json         # Tag-to-video mappings
├── justfile             # Build commands
├── videos/              # Video files directory
├── assets/              # Logo and fonts
│   ├── tag-table-logo.png   # Default embedded logo
│   └── JetBrainsMono-Regular.ttf  # UI font
├── installer/           # Inno Setup scripts
│   └── tagtable.iss
├── docs/                # Documentation
│   ├── CHANGELOG.md
│   ├── INSTALL.md
│   ├── USAGE.md
│   ├── UPDATE_ENDPOINT.md
│   └── server/          # Server-side deployment docs
│       ├── README.md
│       ├── UPDATE_ENDPOINT.md
│       ├── DIRECTORY_STRUCTURE.md
│       └── DEPLOYMENT.md
└── src/                 # Rust source code
    ├── main.rs
    ├── state.rs
    ├── ui.rs
    ├── config.rs
    ├── player.rs
    ├── version.rs
    ├── license.rs
    ├── assets.rs
    ├── paths.rs
    ├── dmx/              # DMX lighting control (Art-Net, sACN, Serial)
    └── input/
        ├── mod.rs
        ├── rfid.rs
        └── admin_trigger.rs

Keyboard Shortcuts

Hardware

Supported RFID Readers

• YARONGTECH 125kHz USB RFID Reader
• FissaiD or similar HID keyboard-emulating readers
• Any reader that outputs 10 digits + Enter

Note: Choose readers without audible beeps for seamless user experience.

Supported Tags

• EM4100/TK4100 125kHz Read-Only Passive Tags
• Tags output a 10-digit decimal UID

Documentation

• Installation Guide
• User Guide
• Changelog
• Update Endpoint Specification
• Server Deployment - Setting up the update server on tagtable.download

Deployment

Releasing a New Version

1. Update version in Cargo.toml
2. Build and bundle:

   just ci && just bundle
   

3. Build installer:

   just installer
   

4. Deploy to server:

   just deploy
   

5. The version endpoint is updated automatically

See docs/server/DEPLOYMENT.md for full workflow.

License

MIT