From Jinna’s first concept sketch to my completing actual hardware, our eBookmark was envisioned as purely an art piece and a statement, although some we’ve shown it to have expressed interest in it being an actual product. Now it is finally done, working, and we are happy to show it.
From the beginning, the eBookmark was conceptualized as a statement on books and their current place in the world. Our generation bridges a strange divide where paper exists but is slowly being nudged out. The eBookmark attempts to bridge a similar divide that we ourselves have lived through. Jinna used to re-read pages because she would forget which paragraph and side of the page she left off on (ironically, kindle still doesn’t let you know which paragraph you left off on). Our bookmark lets the reader save their place on the page and with a switch they can also select the left or right page. The top also extends to allow use in larger books.
The process of creating the bookmark involved wood carving, software development in C on an Atmel 8-bit processor, and hand wiring of all the electronics, LEDs and battery with fine wire. 16 tiny surface mount LEDs shine through the opaque face and the mcu remembers where you left off in your reading.
In an era where bookstores are dying and libraries are collecting cobwebs, our piece is a bridge between analog and digital….
Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!
