I know, Halloween is as good as two months away considering we’re just easing into September, but that does not mean you cannot start preparing early for a Halloween party, right? For those who feel that they’re pretty handy with electronics and cobbling stuff together with your hands, perhaps I might interest you in dressing up as a techno Viking at the end of October? Garrett at MaceTech came up with this cool looking LED Viking Helmet that relied on fiber optics to get the job done, and I must say that the final product is extremely impressive.
Of course, looking for the materials required can be quite a challenge, but Garrett managed to get together all the bits and pieces required, tracking down cheap (and in bulk) fiber optic toy wands, cutting them apart so that he can “harvest” the fiber bundles within. These fibers were then glued into a laser cut plastic assembly, and paired with a handful of OctoBrite CYANEA modules which Garrett already had.
An Arduino Pro Mini is used to control the baddest helmet on the block, while an electret mic and graphic equalizer chip will see action when handling audio input and audio filtering processes. I wonder if new classes in a RPG campaign would include a techno Viking who wanders around, hoping for a way to recharge his helmet after the last battle with a dragon.