The Nintendo DS, when it was first revealed to the masses, excited the industry, although many people thought that Nintendo was done for in the face of the Sony PSP which had superior graphical firepower – but it seems that in the end, Nintendo’s X-factor in the handheld gaming industry saw them through, and for the first time, it proved that two screens are better than one where a portable console is concerned. The same cannot be said of your Android-powered smartphone if it is your primary portable gaming platform of choice, but that does not mean a similar idea cannot be implemented. Modder Michael of Nootropic Design’s latest Arduino hack connects a 16 x 32 LED matrix up to an Android phone, where it will see function as a secondary display.
All video output is downscaled via OpenCV software to the right resolution and 12-bit color, and while unimpressive in the age of Full High Definition, this is definitely a start of what could very well be the future of things to come. Right now, the secondary display chugs along at just four frames per second, and a proof of concept that works is but a bridge to a brighter tomorrow when executed properly.