I finished adding the ability to save to a file. Right now, the python command line application can ask the basic "how are you feeling?" question and save that data to an external matrix. This is half the battle: I can get the data from the user, but I can't do anything with it yet. With enough training, I can hopefully accumulate enough data over time to start playing with hierarchical clustering in the future. I'll be playing with either a web frontend or basic desktop GUI as well, I'd like something nicer looking if I don't do hardware. And stickers? Stickers. Rin stickers would be a fun way to have 'hardware' if I don't actually have any.

Speaking of hardware, It's been on my mind more and more. Python is making life really easy for me, but there will eventually be a time where I have to port to a less powerful device than my laptop if I want to make a tomogatchi-style handheld. Thus, I've been looking for platforms that can conformably run full python while also being low-power and low-level enough for me to hack around. Think something less powerful than a raspberry pi zero, but more powerful than a esp32. 

First, I've been considering the mediaTek MT7688. Seedstudio makes a development board based around that chipset that's relatively inexpensive, and the chip runs full linux. There's also an AcSip module that they used for a smart speaker board, which looks like a SMT module that I could roll into a completed PCB, but I can't find anything about that module online besides a datasheet from AcSip. Perhaps I could buy the smart speaker module, desolder the module and solder it into my final project? 

Along those lines, I also checked out the VoCore, an openWRT single board computer that runs linux on an inexpensive, low power platform. This is my ideal platform, but I've been looking for standalone modules with the same chipset, which I can't find. I don't want to integrate a full dev board into my final project, so I'll keep looking.

Ideally, I'd like to use something like the BeagleBone and move to the "Beaglebone on a chip" but the chip in question is around $50 for one?! The BeagleBone is a really good dev board with plenty of community support, though, so I may end up going with it.