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Are you as big a fan of e-ink screens as I am? Since I started writing for XDA, I love covering Raspberry Pi DIY projects that use them as part of the process. There’s something about e-ink screens that give me a sleek, stylish look. As such, here are my top picks for some attractive e-ink Raspberry Pi displays you can make at home.
Starting simple
First, let’s take a look at this really simple yet elegant design. It is a very simple project; It uses an e-ink screen to display the watch face. You can choose between an analog clock, a digital display, or other clocks.
It is a good project to start because the software part is not very complex; It is a watch, after all. Plus, who doesn’t need a clock somewhere in their house? This makes the e-ink clock an easy and useful project to get started with these amazing displays.
From the creator of the project you just saw
Did you like that watch? Good, because its creator developed another project that used electronic ink screens. This one is a little more complex on the software side, as it is set up to display a weather forecast for your local area. However, if you can understand this construction, you can create a beautiful scenario that lets you know if you need an umbrella or not.
A more modern look
If the meteorologist above didn’t look the way you wanted, don’t worry; There is more than one way to approach a project like that. For example, let’s take this project that gives the weather forecaster a more minimalist and modern look. It gives you all the basics of what the weather looks like right now, and nothing more. Perfect for people who don’t need a complete summary of the entire week.
A modern version of a classic setting
You’ll notice that many of these e-ink displays act like something you would have on your wall or shelf. E-ink screens lend themselves very well as decorative pieces, especially given their low refresh rate. You won’t be gaming or using one as a mini PC on an e-ink screen anytime soon, but it’s great for displaying things that don’t need constant updating.
Take this cool photo frame for example. You don’t need constant screen updates, so an e-ink display is perfect for displaying all your photos without glare. Plus, it connects with Google Photos, so changing what’s displayed is really easy.
Enter AI
But what if we took the photo frame idea and took it one step further? What if we mixed it with some AI generation to create a framework that generates endless unique images to look at every day?
That’s exactly what the PaperPiAI project does. This project polls an AI image generator every day and displays it for everyone to see, and you are guaranteed a unique image never seen before.
Taking AI even further
If we’re going the AI route, why stop at images? This project uses AI to generate a short bedtime story and then creates images to accompany what happens in the plot. Best of all, the processing is done on the dashboard itself, meaning you can create stories without an internet connection.
E-Ink Screens and Raspberry Pis Are a Perfect Combination
What’s better than an e-ink screen project? One that you can make yourself at home. I hope I’ve explained why I love e-ink display projects and maybe even inspired you to do it yourself.
