Highly Available Shades Become Low-Cost Smart Glasses

In today’s hectic and fast-paced world, who has time to pull out your phone and check the time or number of notifications that you have? Ideally, you’d have pertinent info visible at all times in a heads-up display, and with this DIY smart glasses setup by YouTuber DAV robotics, that can be a reality.

The low-cost conversion runs RetroWatch software on an Arduino Nano, with a Bluetooth module used to transfer data from a smartphone. As seen in the build video below, it can show the time in a nice digital and “analog” format, as well as the day of the week. It even lets you know many notifications that you’re neglecting to check on your phone

The device runs on a small rechargeable battery, with info output via a 0.98” OLED display. This is reflected on a bent piece of clear plastic that sits in front of the wearer’s eye, meaning that the display is mirrored. This issue was accommodated for in software, along with physically rotating the display 180º.

The enclosure is nicely 3D-printed, and attached to a pair of standard aviators for use. The top section of the housing is glued into place, and only the recharging connector is exposed. So while keeping it powered shouldn't be a problem, one would want to avoid code changes if possible!