ElectronParade

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Project 18: Budget Magic Mirror (Under $80)

Have you ever looked in the mirror and wished it could tell you the weather, your schedule, and the day’s top news? Welcome to the ultimate smart home project.

While commercial smart mirrors can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars, we’re going to build a Budget Magic Mirror for under $80. By upcycling an old computer monitor and using a Raspberry Pi, you can create a highly customizable smart display that lives behind a two-way mirror.

How the “Magic” Works

The secret to this project is a sheet of two-way mirror acrylic. In a bright room with a dark backing, it acts exactly like a regular mirror. But when a bright screen emits light from behind it, the text and images pass straight through the reflective surface.

By running a black background on our screen, only the bright white text (time, weather, calendar) shines through, floating seamlessly on the mirror.

The Gear You Need

To hit our budget goal, you’ll need to scavenge an old LCD monitor. The rest of the components are very affordable:

• Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W - The brains of the operation. It’s tiny, cheap, and has enough power to run the display interface.
• Two-Way Mirror Acrylic Sheet (12x12 or custom cut) - The magic glass itself.
• An Old Computer Monitor (Ideally 19” to 24”) - Check thrift stores, Craigslist, or your closet. You will be stripping off the plastic bezel.
• A Shadowbox or Custom Frame - To hold the monitor and mirror sandwich together.
• HDMI Cable & Power Supplies

Step 1: Upcycling the Monitor

The first step is carefully removing the plastic bezel and casing from your old monitor to make it as thin as possible. You only want the raw LCD panel and its control board.

Warning: Be careful around the power supply board, as capacitors can hold a charge even when unplugged.

Step 2: The MagicMirror² Software

We will be using the incredibly popular open-source platform MagicMirror². It’s supported by a massive community and has hundreds of customizable modules.

1. Install Raspberry Pi OS Lite on your microSD card and configure your Wi-Fi credentials.
2. SSH into your Pi and run the MagicMirror installation script:

curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/MichMich/MagicMirror/master/installers/raspberry.sh | bash

3. Once installed, edit the config.js file to add your location for weather, link your Google Calendar, and customize the layout.

Step 3: Framing the Mirror

1. Cut your two-way acrylic to match the internal dimensions of your frame.
2. Place the acrylic into the frame (ensure the mirrored side faces outward).
3. Place your raw LCD panel directly behind the acrylic.
4. Use black construction paper or electrical tape to mask off any areas of the mirror that are not covered by the screen. This prevents light bleed.
5. Secure everything with brackets or strong tape, and mount the Raspberry Pi to the back of the monitor.

Wrapping Up

Plug in the monitor and the Raspberry Pi. Within a minute, the screen will boot into the MagicMirror interface, giving you a futuristic, floating heads-up display right in your hallway or bathroom.

The best part? You can always SSH back into the Pi later to add new modules like Spotify Now Playing, transit schedules, or even voice control!