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Simple Eyes from Smartwatch Displays

A simple ESP32 and round display based eyeball with instructions for casting into epoxy half spheres.

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Riding the proliferation of cheap round displays from smart watch development, building eyes is the obvious next step. I threw these eyes together for a few masks a friend had sculpted for a party and I've been told that others would like to use it for their project. Total BOM cost per pair of eyes with controller is on the order of $20 so your next project should probably have eyes. The software is simple, a 220x220px window moved over a 300x300px image to simulate looking around. Blinking is white at 45 degrees to simulate the crow's nictitating membrane. If you're building many it's trivial to add synchronous blinking using the ESP-NOW protocol or similar. There was also the plan to add a photodiode to have the eyes dilate under bright light. The dilation code is in the random display section. The small images which show up randomly are meant to add an element of whimsy but it's easy enough to strip it down to just the eyes looking around. Github has the build guide

support v2.svg

Backing support plate for eye to cover the 2.5in mold

svg+xml - 5.31 kB - 08/26/2025 at 18:40

Preview

sticker2.svg

This is the vinyl cut pattern for the blackout sticker to cover the support frame and cover the blank space to the edge of the eye.

svg+xml - 2.16 kB - 08/26/2025 at 18:37

Preview

mold_holding - v2.svg

*optional* these are laser cut cardboard supports to hold the mold during epoxy curing

svg+xml - 10.13 kB - 08/26/2025 at 18:41

Preview

  • 2 × Smart Watch Display 1.28in 1.28 Inch TFT LCD Display Module Round RGB 240 * 240 GC9A01 Driver 4 Wire SPI Interface 240x240
  • 1 × ESP32-WROOM-32 or similar Little ESP32 Dev Board
  • 1 × Crystal Clear Epoxy Don't forget to degass
  • 1 × 2.5in Silicone Half Sphere Cake Mold I found these on amazon

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