There was a pattern in recent times of confectionary magicians blurring the road between desserts and nearly each different conceivable object. SNL’s Mikey Day even hosted a lackluster TV present on the topic referred to as Is It Cake?, which challenged bakers to disguise their desserts and contests to determine the edible frauds. However virtually all of these desserts have one factor in widespread: they’re static and lifeless. That’s why we’re so enamored by this cake created by Hazal and Abigail that can be a totally purposeful digital camera.
This isn’t new territory for Abigail. She has an internet site showcasing her many sugary initiatives and most of them incorporate electronics, in addition to some degree of interactivity. When she met Hazal, she described herself as a “confectionery roboticist.” Hazal works for Viam, a robotics firm, and thought it might be enjoyable to make use of Abigail’s skills for an upcoming occasion. They’ve a working joke at Viam that every part is a digital camera—from precise imaging sensors to bump sensors. Thus, the pair chosen a digital camera as the topic for the cake.
If it weren’t for the electronics, this could appear to be the sort of cake a gifted baker may assemble out of fondant to have fun the launch of a brand new digital camera mannequin from Panasonic or one thing. It isn’t fairly life like sufficient to idiot anybody close by, but it surely appears unbelievable.
Then the electronics convey it to life, as a result of it really works like an actual digital camera. Contained in the frosting-covered lens, there’s a USB webcam. That gives a dwell feed to a Raspberry Pi hidden within the facade of the digital camera physique. An LCD panel sits precisely the place you’ll count on it to, exhibiting occasion attendees a dwell view of what the digital camera sees. Lastly, an arcade button and thermal printer sit in entrance of the sheet cake platform.
Hazal programmed the Raspberry Pi with facial recognition so it may possibly detect anybody inside view of the digital camera. When it does, it illuminates a hoop of NeoPixel LEDs on the entrance of the fake lens. If an attendee needs a photograph of themselves, they’ll push the button and the LEDs with flash to point a timer countdown. The receipt printer will then spit out info on the photograph, resembling time taken and the photograph quantity, to allow them to seize their image later.
That is such a enjoyable challenge that it’s a disgrace that it may possibly’t final without end.