{"id":994,"date":"2016-09-14T16:01:36","date_gmt":"2016-09-15T00:01:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/asist\/?p=994"},"modified":"2016-09-14T16:39:39","modified_gmt":"2016-09-15T00:39:39","slug":"mirrormirror","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/asist\/2016\/09\/14\/mirrormirror\/","title":{"rendered":"Mirror Mirror on the Wall…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hello again, gentle readers. It’s been a while, but we’re finally back to tell you all about the Magic Mirror we made for the 2016 Vancouver Mini Maker Faire. Check it out! It’s us, but also a book recommendation!<\/p>\n

\"humans<\/a><\/p>\n

Got questions? So did the people we met at VMMF!\u00a0We’re working on\u00a0a more detailed blog post about how we made our mirror, but for now, here are answers to some common questions.<\/p>\n

Frequently Asked Questions:<\/h2>\n

What is it?<\/h3>\n

Why it’s a magical mirror, of course! But instead of caring about your appearance\u00a0(you look great, by the way), it gives you a random book recommendation. (Also, the magic is Raspberry Pi and Javascript.)<\/p>\n

How does it work?<\/h3>\n

What you see here is a piece of 2-way mirror atop a computer monitor. That monitor is hooked up to a Raspberry Pi running the original\u00a0Magic Mirror code<\/a>. We created an additional\u00a0module<\/a>, based on the existing Weather module<\/a>, that calls up the Goodreads API<\/a>\u00a0to generate random book recommendations from our to-read\u00a0shelf<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Can I make one?<\/h3>\n

Yes, absolutely!\u00a0We’re working on a more detailed blog post about\u00a0how we made our mirror. For now, though, we’d recommend starting with this\u00a0Magic Mirror code<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0these great blog posts<\/a> by the original Magic Mirror creator. You can also find our\u00a0Goodreads module on GitHub<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How much did it cost?<\/h3>\n

With a Raspberry Pi already on hand, we spent about $150.<\/p>\n

Does it\u00a0recommend books based on my face?<\/h3>\n

No, but we’re flattered that you think we could implement that. We like your privacy, and we don’t think your face\u00a0actually says that much about what you’d like to read. (Unless maybe\u00a0you’ve got a Harry Potter tattoo on your forehead.)<\/p>\n

What’s that animal?<\/h3>\n

\"ram\"<\/a>It’s a baby ram jumping on a book. A talented team member<\/a> used her 8-bit gif skills to create it after we started calling our mirror “the RAM” (for “Readers Advisory Mirror”). We library folk love acronyms.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What’s next?<\/h3>\n

We’d love to\u00a0make the mirror more interactive by adding a motion sensor. For now, we’ll be using it to showcase Faculty Great Reads<\/a> at the\u00a0UBC Library’s Science Expo<\/a>\u00a0on Sept 22nd.\u00a0If you have other ideas, please send them our way<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Who would you like to thank?<\/h3>\n

Just kidding, no one asked us this. We’d like to express some gratitude anyway. Huge thanks to the\u00a0people\u00a0who made this project possible, including:<\/p>\n