Being a guy while visiting a shopping city with your girlfriend may cause your mind to drift away while walking thru Macy’s. Or at least, this happened to me while i was visiting New York last january.

Long story short: while wandering around I noticed a mirror with an illuminated sing on it. This is something i could built myself. Only better. I wanted my own Magic Mirror!

(Ok, a mirror like this would be awesome. But this is not what i mean with Magic Mirror …)

Once home, I started to figure out what was needed: a mirror, a thin monitor, a Raspberry Pi, some wood and paint, and lots of spare time.

The Mirror.

Now, a regular mirror would not work. The mirror needed to be semi transparent. Or to be more precise: it should behave like a mirror when the screen behind it was black, and should behave like a regular glass window when information is displayed on the screen.

This is the same idea how a mirror in a police interrogation room works. When only one room is light, it behaves like a mirror. Otherwise it’s a regular glass window.

What i needed was a observation mirror. Now, believe me when i say you’ll be asked weird questions when you ask a glass salesmen for an observation mirror. They are probably have even more creative minds … Oh well, a dirty mind is a joy forever.

Anyway, eventually I was able to get my hands on a nice piece of observation mirror: let the fun begin!

Magic Mirror Part II: The Monitor