Are you looking into these creepy animated eyes…or are they looking into you? These peepers were inspired by a concept by David Boccabella (Marcwolf) on the Stan Winston School of Character Arts forums. David is creating servo-driven animatronic eyes with a small OLED screen to simulate a dilating pupil. I'd chimed in with some suggestions and code to boost the refresh rate. Taking it to the next level here, we can render the entire eye…this makes the overall project simpler, as animatronics can be very fussy work (and the noise detracts from live performance).

This is a “choose your own adventure” project. There are many ways to build it…this guide is not really aiming toward any particular finished thing. It’s the start of a recipe, but where it goes is up to your imagination… Spooky eyes in the window for Halloween

An amazing costume for Dragon*Con

A single eye worn in a pendant or a bracer, or in the headpiece of a staff

World’s creepiest taxidermy Read through to see what parts are involved for different configurations.

Parts from Adafruit: PJRC Teensy 3.2 microcontroller (one board will control 1 or 2 eyes); Teensy 3.1 will also work. (As noted above, many Adafruit M0 and M4 boards can also be made to work.)

(one board will control 1 or 2 eyes); Teensy 3.1 will also work. Display(s) - one per eye: either 1.5" OLED or 1.44" TFT. OLED looks amazing but costs more. TFT is affordable but colors are less intense. Tradeoffs! Additional parts and tools: Soldering iron and paraphernalia

28 gauge ribbon cable

Optional: 1.5" Acrylic cabochons (half-spheres)

Optional: 3D printer to make enclosures, held with #2-56 screws and nuts

Optional: LiPoly Backpack and battery (500mAh for OLED, 150mAh for TFT) The following components are OPTIONAL. Our software can handle all of these effects autonomously, but you can optionally add any or all of these parts to enable manual control: Analog joystick for movement

Button(s) for eye blinks or winks

Photocell makes pupils react to light