One question you might have is how much will it cost to make a prototype like this. 

Here is a rough set of expenses.  Note that some things, like buying PCBs practically requires that you buy several, so it’s cheaper on a unit basis to buy and build several. 

Crestron TSS-752  panels (used) - I bought a total of 10 of these. Unit cost was between 17.50 (for a pack of 5 on eBay) and 20, delivered. Rough total of $200, let’s call it $20 per panel  

PCB, components and assembly service - 124.76 for 10 assembled boards, so $12.74 per finished board, delivered.

Esp32-S3 DevKit N8R8 - purchased from Adafruit with 20% off discount code but plus shipping, let’s say $20 per board delivered.  I see these a bit cheaper for $15 at Mouser.

estimated unit HACKtablet cost: 20+13+20=$53 per HACKtablet 

other development costs:

I bought a couple other Crestron tablets of a different model: $80

USB cables: $20

Some adapter boards I used to connect the 40-pin FPC connector to a breadboard, and a display backlight driver helper board: $30

Overall this project has cost me around $600-700 and has enough materials to make 10 HACKtablet units. As for the number of hours, I’d venture a guess of somewhere around 200+ hours.  If you calculate hobby costs, that’s $3/hr of entertainment.