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How to build a super-slim smart mirror

raspberrypi.com

31–40 of 53 posts

Re: How to build a super-slim smart mirror

#31
post #3

I went to do this sort of thing the other day. First thing I did was try and find a Pi Zero 2 W. Discovered most models of Raspberry Pi are completely unavailable. And so, another side project was canned.

Linus Tech Tips recently listed like 10 raspi alternatives.

Re: How to build a super-slim smart mirror

#32

There is still no touch input. If the display has PCAP that can't reach through the mirror then this type of module would add touch on top of the mirror. https://neonode.com/technologies/zforce/touch-sensor-modules

Fingerprints on the mirror won't look that great though.

Re: How to build a super-slim smart mirror

#33
post #20
post #19

How are there exactly zero photos showing how slim this thing is/isn't!?! EDIT: In other news, the settings menu of Pi Imager is brilliant. It automagically fills in your RSA public key, your WiFi details, and other time-saving details. I can't believe how hard we had to fight the RPi devs to make the feature usable and stop hiding it behind a weird keypress combo (to the point we released a fork). They were obsessed…

They link to the display to use on Amazon. It's very thin at 1 cm.

But then they use spacers to make it thicker in order to fit the RPi inside.

Re: How to build a super-slim smart mirror

#34
I made one of these (not this fancy, just a recycled Android tablet mounted behind one-way mirror glass, running a home-made app) and highly recommend it. I was 100% prepared for it to be a novelty that we got bored of in a few months, but eight years later it's still awesome! You can see my mirror and app code at https://github.com/ineptech/mirror but the version in the play store is outdated (weather and stock ticker apps are broken due to the free APIs going away) and I've lost the Play store signing key needed to update it.

edit: biggest "lesson learned" I'd add here is, I experimented with both touch and voice support but didn't like either. I already have laptops and tablets aplenty to interact with, I prefer to use this mirror like a clock - glance at it when I want to information, and otherwise ignore it.

Re: How to build a super-slim smart mirror

#35
post #2

This is all great but don't underestimate these mirror displays: A friend built a similar one and disabled it when he saw the energy consumption. And this was a few years back. Still waiting to pull the trigger on an appropriate e-paper display. At least I'd suggest to measure the setup before you commit to the whole crafts project.

I don't think an e-paper display would work in this case, though? The nature of two way mirrors requires that the screen actually emits light (instead of just reflecting it) for it to come through. Maybe an OLED panel would do the trick though, since most of the screen will be turned off. Probably much more expensive to get one of those, though.

For a mirror no, for displaying the same information yes.

Re: How to build a super-slim smart mirror

#36

My wife had a monitor die early (16 months?) and I'd LOVE to turn it into a screen. The problem is that I'm betting the panel is fine, and the power is fine, but finding a driver board is near impossible, and I don't know enough about driving a screen to roll my own. (It's a 24" 2k screen, which would be awesome, and I kinda don't want to recycle it if I can conceivably reuse it.)

there is a roaring trade on ebay/aliexpress configuring generic HDMI/VGA->LCD panel driver boards. once you strip down the monitor, get the model number of the actual panel and google/ebay/aliexpress search for + hdmi driver and you will probably find one in the $20-$40 range. a typical example is take a 1st/2nd gen iPad which has been locked out (and therefore useless to anyone trying to unlock it without the original iCloud account) usually sell for about $/£10 on ebay, strip out the panel and pair with a $20 HDMI->LCD interface for a standalone 9.7" IPS monitor (albeit at 1024x768 res but the clarity is amazing)

Re: How to build a super-slim smart mirror

#37
post #3

I went to do this sort of thing the other day. First thing I did was try and find a Pi Zero 2 W. Discovered most models of Raspberry Pi are completely unavailable. And so, another side project was canned.

Linus Tech Tips recently listed like 10 raspi alternatives.

Yeah, but take all of those with huge grains of salt. Some of them will only run the vendor’s custom kernel, others have library/driver incompatibility issues, the non-Pi SBC ecosystem is a bit of a crapshoot. And I say that as someone whose primary non-Pi experience is with the fairly well-supported Jetson Nano. You quickly realize why Raspberry Pi is so beloved.

Re: How to build a super-slim smart mirror

#38
post #3

I went to do this sort of thing the other day. First thing I did was try and find a Pi Zero 2 W. Discovered most models of Raspberry Pi are completely unavailable. And so, another side project was canned.

Linus Tech Tips recently listed like 10 raspi alternatives.

Don't bother with that video, he completely ignores the software aspects of the boards.

Re: How to build a super-slim smart mirror

#39
post #19

How are there exactly zero photos showing how slim this thing is/isn't!?! EDIT: In other news, the settings menu of Pi Imager is brilliant. It automagically fills in your RSA public key, your WiFi details, and other time-saving details. I can't believe how hard we had to fight the RPi devs to make the feature usable and stop hiding it behind a weird keypress combo (to the point we released a fork). They were obsessed…

> How are there exactly zero photos showing how slim this thing is/isn't!?!

There is a render[1] with the 2mm and 3mm acrylic they call for. Judging off of that, this thing is probably 11-12mm thick

[1]https://www.raspberrypi.com/app/uploads/2023/01/Screenshot-2...

Re: How to build a super-slim smart mirror

#40
post #3

I went to do this sort of thing the other day. First thing I did was try and find a Pi Zero 2 W. Discovered most models of Raspberry Pi are completely unavailable. And so, another side project was canned.

That has been the situation ever since the worldwide chip shortage hit. Raspberry Pi (the company) decided to prioritize companies that use Raspberry Pi's in their products over consumers. So it became almost impossible to get a Raspberry Pi, unless you were willing to pay a huge markup to a scalper. The situation should improve this year though. > As a result, we can say with confidence that, after a lean first quar…

It’s been the situation for years, I drove 30 miles for a zero like 6 months after they were released. I bought an A because the B was sold out in 2014.
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