Display bitmap images, play games and morph faces using this DIY handheld gadget.
Created by the LucidTronix crew, the Joy Gamer is a handheld, programmable gaming machine. Powered by an Arduino Leonardo (ATmega32U4), the portable device is equipped with a joystick, an SD card slot, a built-in accelerometer, a full-color LCD screen, and a rechargeable lithium battery — all enclosed in a 3D-printed case.
“What’s even cooler is that the JoyGamer shows up to your computer like an Arduino Leonardo so you can run any Arduino code you like on the Joy Gamer.” This enables Makers to program their own applications and load them using a microUSB, ranging from interactive mini picture frames and drawing tools to gesture-based game consoles and fully-functional keyboards.
Most recently, the team demonstrated its capabilities by using the ATmega32U4 based, palm-sized device to mash up two different headshots. This was accomplished by using a weighted average in each color channel (red, green and blue) of each pixel in the images, while moving the joystick shifted the weight between the two photos.
“So, if the joystick is all the way to the right then the right image dominates, if the joystick is in the middle the two images have equal weight and when the joystick is all the way left the left image’s pixels are weighted 1.0 and the right image’s pixels are weighted 0.0. This means we will only see the left image. If the joystick is untouched and resting in the cente then the wieghts will 0.5 and 0.5 and image displayed will be an even mix of the two pictures.”
Interested? Learn all about the Joy Gamer and its wide range of uses here.
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