There’s an old saying that goes: when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. [lds133] must have heard that saying, because when life took the magic liquid out of his Magic 8 Ball, [lds133] made not eight-ball-aide, but an electronic replacement with a Raspberry Pi Pico and a round TFT display.
In case the Magic 8 Ball is unknown in some corners of the globe, it is a toy that consists of a twenty-sided die with a set of oracular messages engraved on it, enclosed in a magical blue liquid — and by magical, we mean isopropyl alcohol and dye. The traditional use is to ask a question, shake the eight-ball, and then ignore its advice and do whatever you wanted to do anyway.
[lds133]’s version replicates the original behavior exactly by using the accelerometer to detect the shaking, the round display to show an icon of the die, and a Raspberry Pi Pico to do the hard work. There’s also the obligatory lithium pouch cell for power, which is managed by one of the usual TP4056 breakout boards. One very nice detail is that instead of a distracting battery indicator, the virtual die changes color as the battery wears out.
We’ve seen digital 8 Balls before, like this one that used an STM32, or another that used a Raspberry Pi to display reaction GIFs. Some projects are just perennial.