Infinity Mirror Scuba Mask

Description

Jacques Cousteau style scuba mask turned into an infinity mirror with programmable RGB LEDs controlled by an Arduino. Unlike other infinity mirror mask/glasses I've seen, this project allows you to see while wearing by adding a wide peephole. Firmware is FastLED library and modified FastLED demo sketch. I added a MPU-9250 accelerometer to make the light show responsive to body movement.

Details

Check out my latest project Hacking Wearables for Medical Device Development. Hack a $35 Arduino compatible nRF52 ARM Cortex activity tracker to build low power devices. Currently, used to prototype wearable medical devices at MATTER Lab. Complete tutorials and code for accelerometer gesture recognition, neural network training, and 3D model control using Bluetooth.

An "infinity mirror" is an illusion created when a light source is placed between a full mirror and a partial mirror. When viewed from the partial mirror side there is a perception of increased, even "infinite" depth with increasingly dim copies of the light source trailing into the distance.

I plan on posting a lot more projects, on Hackaday and elsewhere. The best way to stay updated is to follow me on GitHub https://github.com/curtpw

Components

1 × Jacques Cousteau style scuba mask I got mine on Ebay for $20

1 × WS2812B (or similar) RGB programmable LED strip

1 × Headlamp with 4xAA rear battery compartment Cannibalize the headlamp battery case. You can use whatever 5V power source you want though.

1 × 5V step up converter/regulator

1 × MPU-9250 Accelerometer For making the LED light show responsive to body movement

Project Logs

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Infinity Mirror Scuba Mask at The Office!

Curt White • 04/21/2018 at 20:39 • 0 comments

This is me wearing the Infinity Mirror Scuba Mask and my colleague Arno wearing his Cork Man mask at the Child Mind Institute MATTER Lab. Check out my entry in the Hackaday Prize to raise money for MATTER Lab - Hack $35 Wearables for Medical Device Development

Build Instructions

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1

Cut LED Strip to Fit Mask

Scuba masks vary in size so it is best to avoid simply using the same length/LED count of LED strip that I use. Measure the circumference of the glass from the inside of the mask. Cut a length of LED strip that comfortably fits inside the mask.
2

Back Mirror

Place the scuba mask face down on a piece of white paper and trace around the edge with a pencil or pen. Draw a line around the interior of this traced oval such that it is 3/8" away from the traced line ie smaller. Cut out this smaller oval - this is our back mirror template. Glue it to the plastic mirror sheet with water soluble glue (Elmer's etc). Cut out the section of mirror covered by the paper template.

*NOTE: The back mirror is the only tricky part of this project. Ideally it will be slightly larger (2mm in additional diameter) than the space behind the glass. The rubber that extends from the glass towards your face forms a "gasket" and will stretch around the edges of the back mirror. If done correctly the rubber "gasket" will hold the back mirror firmly in place without the need for adhesives or other attachment mechanism.
3

Add Partial Mirror Film to the Scuba Mask Glass

Trace the edge of the scuba mask on a piece of paper.

Sketch a smaller oval inside the larger traced oval. This small oval should be the size of the mask glass, about 0.7mm smaller radius than the traced oval.

Cut out the your mirror film template (the inner oval you sketched).

Use the template to cut out the mirror film which will be attached to the glass.

View all 4 instructions

Discussions

jennyle965 wrote 09/06/2021 at 14:06

https://timesnewsnetwork.com/

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CeDeROM wrote 08/24/2021 at 00:27

AWSOME!! =)

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bwanaaa wrote 04/19/2018 at 02:00

why do you need a 5v step up converter if you are using an arduino? I thought those ran at 5v .

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Curt White wrote 04/19/2018 at 04:59

All batteries, and particularly alkalines like I'm using here, taper off in terms of supplied voltage. If the batteries are supplying 3v towards the end of their lives the boost converter will change that to 5v at the cost of additional current consumption. Here is some documentation on the AS1302 Boost Converter: http://ams.com/eng/Products/Power-Management/DC-DC-Charge-Pumps/AS1302

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ivoras wrote 04/18/2018 at 17:40

Can you tell us a bit more about the mirror and the "partial mirror film" - they are not listed among the components. What are they (you've cut a real glass mirror in the shape of the mask?), where can we get them?

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astralboy wrote 04/19/2018 at 21:56

I'm at a loss as well about the mirror film.

It would be super helpful to have some more details on this, as well as how you cut the glass for the peep hole. What material is inside the hole?

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