There is finally a hood full of pixels.
Sebastian Staacks of There Oughta Be has built a mask that can change into any face with a grid of LEDs. Made for his uncle’s Halloween party, the mask is built from two 128×64 LED matrices powered by a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W, plus a face shield and enough magnets, zip ties and 3D-printed brackets to hold it all together. Combined with a black hood, the effect in the dark is amazing, and allows him to change from one character to another on the run. The minor drawbacks include a narrow slit to see through, and 3A current millimeters away from his face.
As cool as the LED mask is, the most complex part of his costume is the accompanying staff. Also powered by a USB power bank and Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W, the staff includes controls and an accelerometer, so he can use it to switch different settings on-the-fly. The entire glowing setup pairs with a Bluetooth speaker on his belt for an audio/visual experience in costume form.
There are enough part numbers and assembly details on his blog post for intermediate makers to build their own version.
