Magic Mirror On The Wall, “Is Pi Or ESP, Fairest Of All?”

“What’s the weather like, honey?” “I don’t know. Let me check the mirror.”  The mirror?

Both [Dylan Pierce] and [squix] have mirror projects that display the weather. They took two different approaches which makes for an interesting comparison. [Dylan] uses a Raspberry Pi with an actual monitor behind the mirror. [squix] puts an OLED behind the mirror driven by a ESP8266.  It appears there is more than one way to hack a mirror, or anything, which is what makes hacking fun.

[squix] started with a picture frame, adding tinting film to the glass so it would reflect. A small section of tint was removed to allow the OLED to be seen. The ESP8266 software connects to the Weather Underground to get the latest information.

The Raspberry Pi version by [Dylan] puts a 27″ monitor behind the mirror. That is either terribly impressive or way over the top but seeing Linux boot behind the mirror makes it worth the effort. The Pi generates a web page which makes this adaptable as a general purpose kiosk.

A video of [squix]’s mirror in operation, after the break.

23 thoughts on “Magic Mirror On The Wall, “Is Pi Or ESP, Fairest Of All?”

  1. Had to work on this kind of stuff for a previous company. We were using [Dylan] solution of course : 27″ screen with touchscreen (usable through a plate of glass) with a real one-way mirror on top.

  2. I think an android tablet behind one way mirror would be easier than both of these. The large display area of the 27 inch is very cool but I doubt particularly useful.

    I would hook up a proximity sensor so the tablet can sleep most of the time. I can’t find any cheap one way mirror in the UK or I’d make one too!

          1. Thanks guys I’ll guess I’ll find out what the UK equivalent of windex is and try that. Any particular film to look out for or just get the cheapest?

  3. I installed these 10+ years ago as a part of rich people’s homes. Both TV set and the output of a PC showing their day’s outlook calendar, weather, and news feed. One executive I had two displays behind glass in the shower. and this was back when flat screens were 3-5 inches thick and a major pain in the rear to fit behind anything. Today that super thin monitor makes it a LOT easier.

  4. Interesting comment my wife said when I showed her this. Can you ask it “Who is the fairest one of all”?

    An interesting project idea (which I am no where near awesome enough to make): A regular mirror which can respond to the phrase “Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all” and a silver face can appear and respond.

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