Twitter is rightly losing its collective mind over this Black Mage cosplay with animated LED eyes. Everyone is asking, “How is this done?”

The project’s creator, Cody Sass, has posted a build summary (part 1) (part 2) and shares all the source code on Github so anyone can now make their own.

An Adafruit Pro Trinket microcontroller drives two grids of NeoPixel strip sandwiched in a pair of goggles, while a few buttons and some Sugru make a discreet, palm-able controller. A USB phone charger provides enough power to run the show through a whole convention weekend.

I appreciate the fact that this isn’t super bleeding-edge technology…there’s no facial tracking (though many assume that at first)…rather, it’s a mix of traditional puppetry, misdirection and lots of practice with a sprinkling of modern tech. The result is exceptionally emotive and captivating, and highly approachable as a cosplay or Halloween project! And then sharing all that makes it 500X better.