Building A Voice Controlled Smart Mirror With Raspberry Pi And Jasper

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Building A Voice Controlled Smart Mirror With Raspberry Pi And Jasper

What’s cooler than a mirror that shows you handy information before starting your day? Adding voice controls so that you can update your calendar, play Spotify playlists, and so much more. Also, it’s really awesome and futuristic. Impress your friends, family, and pets!

As per the prophecy: first, the finished product.

How it works
There are four major components to the voice-controlled smart mirror. The attached highly technical drawing illustrates how these components work together.

1. The two-way mirror
The two-way mirror is made of acrylic and sits flush over the monitor, allowing the graphics on the monitor to come through while maintaining a mirror effect. I ordered my mirror through Tap Plastics (this one). Order the thicker mirror option (3/16″) to prevent a “funhouse mirror” effect.

2. The monitor
I recommend an LED monitor for minimal power consumption, maximum crispness, and to prevent mirror glow at night. I also recommend a monitor with built-in speakers, but this is optional.

3. The Raspberry Pi
The Raspberry Pi is a small, credit card-sized computer that powers the whole thing, displaying the Magic Mirror interface and running Jasper, the voice-control system.

4. The box/frame
The box/frame houses all the components, including the microphone, and looks pretty.

Total cost
The total cost for this project (including the wood, monitor, Raspberry Pi, and mirror) was around $300-350.

The mirror in action

Cutting the box
I picked up a long piece of oak from Home Depot. I then cut all the wood to length, based on my misguided calculations (more on this later).

Box building
I used a handy jig made by Wolfcraft to form a neat 90-degree angle and then used countersinks and #8 screws to form the box.

Box is done!

Building frame supports
Because I’m going to be attaching the frame from the bottom, I need to add a few supports. I cut a few pieces of thin pine and screwed them into place from the inside. The screws I used were sized so that I wouldn’t pierce the side of the box.

Unfortunately, I made my frame slightly too small so I wasn’t able to add a support on the fourth side. My monitor bezel is deeper on one side and i hadn’t taken this into account. I’ll still be able to attach that section of the frame on the ends and use glue to support the rest, so everything will be structurally sound.

Also pictured here: the bluetooth speaker I was going to use that doesn’t fit. Oh well.

Cutting the frame
Now that the box is built, it’s time to build the frame. I measured and cut my frame pieces and then used my compound miter saw to cut the ends into 45 degree angles. Clamping each piece together and then cutting with my miter saw ensures that the edges will be at a symmetrical 45 degree angle. Don’t forget to square your saw — I used a few pieces of scrap pine to do this, measuring the output and calibrating my saw as needed.

Gluing the frame
I’m going to attach my framing from beneath so that the screws don’t show, but first I need to get the frame nice and rigid. To do this, I’m going to glue it together, give it time to set, and then proceed to attach it from beneath. I laid down some newspaper, applied a small amount of wood glue to each corner, squared everything up with my speed square, and then used clamps to hold everything in place. Then, I waited a day for the glue to cure.

Note: Before gluing your frame, measure one last time to make sure that its inside dimensions are still correct (this can be a costly mistake both time-wise and material-wise!)

If you have a pocket hole jig, it will make the framing process much easier (I know what I’m asking for for Christmas).