The Gallery Box

I wanted to see if we could make a tiny digital art exhibit in a storage tub. Made for fun and The Great Big Art Exhibition .

box containing electronics — Behind the scenes - Raspberry Pi, Webcam, old monitor

Black plastic storage tub — Tub without the wooden front

Tub with cardboard inserted — Early cardboard mockup

hand holding tiny popcorn container — Jennie's tiny popcorn! (very stale mind)

Star Wars action figures sitting in seats — What the screen sees

woman looking into box — Jennie having a go

Distorted face on screen in box with action figures — Taking a selfie with the fire escape is a tricky business

distorted man's head on screen in box — Daddy Box Head

model door with glowing sign — Fire escape door close up

Blurb

It's a thing that makes your reflection wonky in a box strapped to a wheelie bin. Think Hall of mirrors, but in a short hall with one mirror!

The national lockdown with local exercise only has meant a lot of people are now walking past our house. So I thought it'd be nice to join in the window art fun with a digital doodah.

It needs to be outside for people to see it, so I thought it best to build it all in a waterproof tub.

I wanted it to be self contained as if it's a real gallery exhibit rather then just a screen connected to a computer inside. So everything runs off a Raspberry Pi which is connected to an old monitor and webcam. One single power lead is all that comes into the house.

Notes to self

A webcam and screen behind glass picks up the screen's reflection unless the glass in on a 45° angle.
Varnish takes ages - [FUTURE CHRIS] try spray paint first for the wood next time.
Old Star Wars figures make perfect model viewers, even if they don't have knees (Jennie made little foot stools for them).
You can print on Shrinky Dinks to make tiny pictures, but it darkens the image so would be good to brighten the images first next time.
Raspberry Pi 4's get very hot, but the heat-sink cases are super cool!
CNC cut lettering makes everything look better 🤔