Redesigning Zack Freedman’s Singularitron Cyberwatch

Five years ago, in the time before covid when the world was still a silly place, an almost unknown Zack Freedman designed the Singularitron: a “cyberwatch” that could tell time and also do other stuff via add-on modules. It was the kind of wristwatch that Batman would wear, if he was cleaning up the crime ridden streets of Night City, California. Now Mr. Freedman is a YouTube superstar with more than half a million subscribers and he doesn’t have time for such distractions. So, Coffeekin took it upon themselves to update the design and this is the nifty result.

Freedman’s original Singularitron device was, of course, very cool. But he built it at a time when he was putting less effort into ensuring that his designs would be as easy as possible for others to make. Even in his later documentation, he says that “many parts of the project are suboptimal, ridiculous, and/or barely functional.” Coffeekin’s goal was to take the basic Singularitron idea and completely redesign it with practicality in mind. Their version has a similar form factor and aesthetic, but should be much more approachable to other makers and should function better as an everyday wearable.

Like the original, Coffeekin’s Singularitron puts a large display on the user’s wrist, with five chunky buttons below. It also accepts little cartridge-style add-on modules, similar the laser and thermometer modules that Freedman created for his Singularitron.

But the similarities mostly end there. The original had a VFD (Vacuum Fluorescent Display) that was distinctive and pretty darn neat, but that wasn’t very suitable for a wearable. VFDs are bulky, require high voltage, and consume quite a bit of power. Coffeekin replaced that VFD with a more conventional (by modern standards) 20×4 character LCD screen. The microcontroller is also different, with Coffeekin designing their Singularitron to use an ESP32 development board instead of a Teensy 3.2. The ESP32 dev board is easier to source today, cheaper, and offers wireless connectivity (Bluetooth and WiFi). An RTC (Real-Time Clock) module helps with accurate timekeeping.

Power comes from an 18650 lithium battery, which users can swap out when necessary. That is, of course, faster than charging and eliminates the need for charging hardware. However, it does mean users will need a separate 18650 charger.

The enclosure is 3D-printable and Coffeekin has basic code ready to go to get people started. If you liked Freedman’s Singularitron, but found it overwhelming, this may be a more approachable alternative.