[janrinok:] We covered a story a few months ago regarding a watch that also contained a projector which could be used to show an enlarged image on any nearby surface, including the hand that is wearing the watch. Well somebody decided to look a little more closely at making his own small projector - although not quite to the same degree of miniaturisation.
Who doesn’t want a pocket projector? Nothing will impress a date more than being able to whip out a PowerPoint presentation of your latest trip to the comic book convention. The key to [MickMake] build is the $100 DLP2000EVM evaluation module from Texas Instruments. This is an inexpensive light engine, and perfect for rolling your own projector. You can see the result in the video below.
If you don’t need compactness, you could drive the module with any Rasberry Pi or even a regular computer. But to get that pocket form factor, a Pi Zero W fits the bill. A custom PCB from [MickMake] lets the board fit in with the DLP module in a very small form factor. DLP chips use lots of microscopic mirrors that you can move roughly 20 degrees under computer control. So you can reflect light into the lens or bounce it away so it makes the image black. For color, an RGB LED cycles through the primary colors and you have to time your mirror movements to the color you want to project. Of course, the module takes care of all this for you behind the scenes.
The module can output up to 30 lumens (by default, though, it is 20 lumens) and has I2C and 8/16/24-bit parallel RGB video interfaces. If you don’t want to go with a custom board, the device supports the BeagleBone Black right out of the box. The DLP resolution is nHD. That is the mirror array is 640×360. While you might think the “n” stands for not, it actually stands for ninth, as in one-ninth. The current release of the adapter board lacks an audio amplifier, although that may change in a future release. For now, you can play audio from the Pi via Bluetooth.
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This smartwatch can project a tiny dancing man onto your hand
The nice thing about smartwatches is that they put information right on your wrist so it's easy to check. But what if that information was even more visible? What if that information was right on the back of your hand?
That question, I can only assume, is what led to the creation of Haier's Asu watch, an enormous smartwatch with a built-in projector. The projector allows the watch to display information on the back of your hand, essentially serving as a second screen.
Haier uses the projection to provide additional information. So when you're running, the projection will display distance, time, and progress toward fitness goals, while the watch screen will have controls to pause and finish your workout. The projection actually supports gesture controls, too: you can double tap on your hand to change what's on the screen. It didn't work very well when I tried it, but Haier says the whole watch is still in development.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 11 2018, @03:50PM (2 children)
Er...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 11 2018, @04:03PM
"Are you pleased to see me or is that a projector in your pocket"?
(Score: 2) by takyon on Monday June 11 2018, @04:06PM
Just whip it out.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday June 11 2018, @04:44PM (4 children)
Projectors aren't a mainstream media consumption device. TVs have better picture at a fraction of the cost. Size used to be the main difference, but now you can get a 65" TV for $500. A portable projectable display that doesn't take up much space, but has poor quality in bright light. Yeah, everyone needs two of those. Also, it's $99 for the TI part alone. I'd be interested in something like this, if total cost was more like $50. Though, I might still have been interested, if I had a larger portion of expendable income.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 4, Informative) by richtopia on Monday June 11 2018, @06:24PM (3 children)
Something like this?: https://www.banggood.com/YG-300-LCD-Mini-Support-1080P-Portable-LED-Projector-Home-Cinema-p-1052155.html?rmmds=search&cur_warehouse=CN [banggood.com]
Disclaimer: I did zero research on this product, I just did a quick look for a cheap portable projector from my favourite China direct retailer
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Tuesday June 12 2018, @01:03AM (1 child)
That one looks a whole lot better than what I have seen from Asia.
One of my sales guys bought something like the link you supplied when on holiday in Vietnam (I think) and decided to use it for customer presentations. It did not go well, and as I am the IT support, he demanded I "make it work better".
LOL.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday June 18 2018, @03:25PM
No, that's exactly the kind of junk you've seen from Asia. It's got 320x240 pixel Native resolution. The whole "supports 1080p" is just saying they downscale an image of that quality to what is supported by the projector. Also, known as Marketing Speak to lull in the uninformed.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday June 18 2018, @03:22PM
Definitely, Not. "320x240 800:1 Support 1080P" the fine print somewhere would say "320x240" pixels Native. I.E. They downscale a 1080p image to 240p quality. You'd be hard pressed to find much watchable, let alone have a good text experience.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 11 2018, @05:24PM (2 children)
Sad to discover it was a pocket projector, not a pocket protector.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 11 2018, @06:19PM (1 child)
Someone should market a pocket projector protector, they'd clean up.
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Tuesday June 12 2018, @05:46PM
I have it on good authority that you can use this product to display images of pocket protectors. It is thus useful as a pocket protector projector.
Just put it in front of a mirror, and a steaming cup of hot tea and voila.
This sig for rent.