Here comes another DIY project courtesy of Redditor Wuspy that uses an E Ink display and shows calendar information. However, as Hackster.io revealed, that’s just half the story as the calendar does not show just the usual day, month, and year information but something more that again has a lot to do with the maker’s strong affinity to the video game Portal. As is shown in the video game that depicts a science laboratory kind of environment, the player is taken to a new room that has a sign containing the level number along with pictograms that shows all that is contained in the room, all of which has attained a cult status in the world of game playing.

The same Portal sign artwork has been used in the E Ink calendar project as well, which is shown at the bottom. On the top of the 7.5-inch Waveshare E Ink display is the month followed by the day of the month which is shown in huge font. In fact, the day information is the single biggest entity shown and dominates the entire display. Below is the day of the month that is shown again against the number of days of the month. Also shown is the day of the week as well as a tally of the days. Below it lies the various symbols from the Porter game which likely are selected at random. Then there is weather information also shown in another mode.

Controlling the display is an EZSBC ESP32 development board which performs just two functions – syncing the time via the NTP (Network Time Protocol) and syncing the weather information through OpenWeatherMap. The display is then updated accordingly. Powering the entire setup is a triple AAA battery which the maker claimed will last a year. The entire thing is enclosed within a 3D-printed enclosure which looks like a picture frame containing the e-paper display.

Wuspy has also shared all the details as well as the necessary files on GitHub. So, anyone willing to create their own version of the Portal calendar can do so easily.

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