Show HN: An e-ink frame that hears birds and draws them as 1800s illustrations
A developer has created an e-ink frame that uses local AI to identify birds by their audio and display them as 1800s-style illustrations. The project emphasizes privacy by running entirely locally on a Raspberry Pi.
Why it matters
It demonstrates the creative application of edge computing and local AI for hobbyist projects while avoiding cloud-based surveillance.
E-ink bird frame for Raspberry Pi - real-time bird detection by audio, fully local AI, rendered as real, hand-cut 1800s bird illustrations.
Sorry about the dirty window - squirrels have been stealing the bird food.
Still in early development: expect the odd bug and a few unpolished edges, with plenty more features to come.
Live on fugleramme.arnegiacomo.dev running from my kitchen window and displaying the actual birds currently heard in my garden (Bergen, Norway).
Hardware, install and operations docs: arnegiacomo.dev/fugleramme
BirdNET-Go listens on a mic and handles the classifier. Fugleramme polls its api, matches each species to an illustration, then packs them onto a page, and redraws only when the birds change - on an Inky Impression e-ink panel, and as a web kiosk serving the same view. There's an admin page that lets you configure what to show, and automatic updates and such.
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