Raspberry Pi Digital Display

Summary

I will be using a raspberry pi to create and build a digital smart display which I will be able to display information such as time, calendar, weather, events, be able to control smart devices, etc. I really want to build this after watching some two way mirror / magic mirror videos on youtube which display information like this and only being powered by a rasberry pi. The goal is to start with just building a smart display and then turn it into a magic mirror if I have the time and budget. This is also a great use of the spare tv we have in the house.

Plan

I’ll be ordering a raspberry pi 4 off of the official rasberry pi website which will be used to power the smart display. I already have access to a large display due to having a spare tv. I will then use the rasberry pi starter kit snd accesories to wire the tv to the rasberry pi and be able to control it. The accesories kit is very beneficial here as it contains all the wires I would need to possibly use when connecting to the tv. I will then watch some youtube videos and learn how code the rasberry pi to display and sync all of my smart devices and display the vital infirmation I need using youtube videos. Throughout the whole process I will be following videos which ensure that I am building the smart display correctly. This is the intial plan however after this I may on my own purchase a two way mirror and a frame for tv and turn it into a full magic mirror powered by the rasberry pi if I have the time and budget. I would do this by placing the tv into a wooden ikea frame and then placing a two way mirror film on top to create the illusion of a smart mirror. As for programming the pi, I am thinking of using magic mirror and following this guide and some videos based around this: https://docs.magicmirror.builders/getting-started/installation.html#alternative-installation-methods

After setting up magic mirror I will use the modules library to add in all the different things I want my display to be able to do/show using this:

• https://github.com/MichMich/MagicMirror/wiki/3rd-party-modules
• https://magpi.raspberrypi.com/articles/magic-mirror-modules

I am also going to opt for a wired connection to a keyboard and mouse to start with and I might switch to a headless setup after everything works properly.

https://youtu.be/4hN0_yGVdUQ

https://www.cnet.com/home/smart-home/turn-an-old-monitor-into-a-wall-display-with-a-raspberry-pi/

https://youtu.be/OYlloiaBINo

What I plan to do with the magic mirror: With this build, I essentially want a display which can provide me information that I want to know at a glance through the use of magic mirror modules. For example, some of the modules I would like the display to show is weather, date, time, calendar, timetable, to do list, sports games, random facts and to link my amazon alexa with thr display so i can control my smart devices with an all in one setup. Furthermore, I plan to eventually turn this display into a smart mirror which i can hang up in a wall to make it multi-purposeful in the future if i have the budget for it. The overall goal for this is to create something that is super cool yet has a practical use case and being able to use the display to get information while controlling smart devices is a perfect us for the project.

Budget