Raspberry Pi Smart Glasses

This project shows an easy way to make portable, battery powered smart glasses for under $55. Unlike some other smart glasses, which just show you the time and a few notifications, this one runs plain Raspberry Pi OS, so you get a full desktop. The images are what it looks like, although the desktop looks a lot cleared than worn, compared to the image. I came up with this project after wondering what to do with my Pi 0W and PiTFT after buying them for another project that failed. Most of the smart glasses used very expensive VR technology, or just made use of a small black and white screen with an Arduino to notify you of calls. I wanted neither, so I created this.

Note: If you are farsighted, then it won't work unless you are wearing your glasses. I apologize for any dead links. I'll try to post updated links in this Instructable, so if you see a dead link, comment!

Materials:

• A small power bank (I used a different one I had lying around, but, if you use a different one, it needs to be light enough to balance on the glasses) - $4.88
• A (preferably) short Micro USB to USB cable - $1.20
• A pair of glasses (or plastic safety glasses)
• Raspberry Pi Zero WH - $14.00 (or you can use a plain Raspberry Pi Zero W if you want to solder headers yourself)
• Mini wireless keyboard - $10.99 (I used a different one, but they are almost identical.)
• Tape, a little bit of transparent plastic from a small fruit box (picture shown), cardboard
• A tiny male micro-USB to female USB converter (I used a different one that I already had lying around, but this should make it a lot more compact.) - $2.95
• An SD card - $5.95
• PiTFT 1.14 - $14.95

Total: $54.92

Tools:

• Scissors
• A monitor (optional, but really helpful)
• A 5v power adaptor (you can use the USB ports on your laptop)
• A USB micro SD card reader (this should be able to read microSD cards and convert them to something your laptop can use)

Start off with some housekeeping. Charge the power bank and keyboard, and open up the packaging for the rest. Cut the cardboard according to my first image. (you might need to click on the images) This will be your main body. (Pi shown for scale) Then, cut the plastic fruit box to the shape shown in the picture. The exact shape isn't important, just make sure it fits on to the back of the PiTFT without covering any ports. (picture shown) I secured this to the PiTFT with a rubber band, but you can use glue or anything else that works for you. Lastly, plug the USB dongle that came with the keyboard into the large end of the USB-microUSB converter, and plug that whole thing into the middle port of the Pi Zero. (There are two microUSB ports, make sure to pick the one towards the center) Then, turn on the keyboard.

If you are already able to access your Pi's command prompt, then skip this step. If not, here goes:

If you have a monitor, go ahead and follow this tutorial (Note: don't worry about the USB hub, adaptor, and mouse. This was completed in the last step.)

If you don't have a monitor, then use this tutorial. (I would opt for the Headless Wi-Fi option, because USB is a little complicated and the Pi 0W does not have Ethernet. Also, you do not need to use VNC, so skip that part.)

Next, if you are on the desktop, open LXTerminal, which is next to the web browser on the taskbar. If you are on a command prompt with no GUI, then enter the command "startx" on the command prompt. This should load the desktop.

Mount the PiTFT on to the pi according to the image. The code is quite easy; just run these commands, reboot when it asks you to, and then run these commands.

First, bend the small cardboard pieces into two folds of 90 degrees according to the first image. You want it so that one side is shorter than the other. This will hang onto your glasses. Then tape it so that it stays in place according to the second and third images. I used yellow masking tape for visibility, but it is up to you for what tape you want to use. Again, don't worry about getting it exact, it just needs to serve the purpose. Make sure to do this to both the cardboard pieces.

Tape everything together, except for the long piece, according to the first and second pictures. The cylinder in the second picture is my power bank, you may have a different one. Then, tape the large piece onto the whole assembly, according to the third image. You are finally done! Hook it onto your glasses. If it starts to fall off, try tightening the small cardboard pieces, to make them fit more snugly on your glasses. Plug in the Pi Zero to the microUSB port at the edge, and appreciate your creation! You can even play games on it if you like. By the way, please like this Instructable if you enjoyed it. Thank you!