Vox Only Has Eyes for You
Vox is a desk companion with animated eyes and touch-triggered interactions that is more of a cute distraction than anything else.
People that work from home often go all day without seeing or talking to another person. Even for the most introverted people among us, that can be hard to deal with after a while. It is hardly the same as human contact, but RoboTechZone has got a little gadget that could make the day a little bit more palatable. It is called Vox, and it doesn’t really serve any purpose in the way that most electronic devices do, but it will never tire of keeping you company.
Vox is built into a 3D-printed case that looks reminiscent of vintage computers like the Macintosh Classic. Inside, there is a WeMos D1 Mini V2 development board with an ESP8266 microcontroller. This is paired with a small OLED display that slots in to serve as the faux computer’s monitor. A capacitive touch sensor is attached to the inside of the case, such that tapping the top of Vox can trigger interactions. A DHT11 sensor is attached to the back of the device to collect environmental data.
Software for the device was developed in C++ using Arduino IDE. It draws a set of animated eyes on the screen that move around and blink, as if they are looking for something. Tapping the top of Vox causes it to temporarily display the date, time, and temperature and humidity measurements.
Will Vox keep you from feeling lonely? Not a chance. But it is a very cool desk toy, and aside from the 3D-printed case, there is a good chance that you already have the parts on hand needed to make your own. The project source code is available in a GitHub repository.
R&D, creativity, and building the next big thing you never knew you wanted are my specialties.