alt Hacker NewsShow HN: An e-ink frame that hears birds and draws them as 1800s illustrations
See also: Avian Visitors - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48343424 - May 2026 (20 comments)
Comments
The underlying classifier, BirdNET, is a traditional neural network and not an LLM:
e-ink is so much fun, especially when combined with ESP32 or BTLE boards. I currently have 4 around my house displaying book quotes that I've highlighted in KOReader and they bring me joy each time I see them. They are simple and do one thing very well.
I just got and setup a BTLE e-ink driver the other day and according to my calculations it will last _years_ on a single charge (2000mAh) even with multiple refreshes per day (crazy compared to the Wifi ones). Year+ lifetime completely changes the calculus for where to put these IMHO.
I'm considering designing a multiple-screen "art" piece to hang on my wall and playing around with various ideas (on both content and design).
LLMs + 3D Printer + e-ink is my new favorite hobby.
So many bird projects recently and I think it’s all thanks to this project[0]
It seems IP over Avian Carriers is finally within reach!
I love an e-ink display project!
The one thing that always trips me up in projects like this is power delivery in a way that I'm happy with. I always end up having a USB cable looking awkward somewhere or being limited in where I put my project
As a fellow Norwegian I must say that this is pure art by the developer Arne Munthe-Kaas.
This is such a cool project. My mom would absolutely love this if I made it as a gift. This may be a good project.
This is a very cool project!
When I first heard of it (through a community member in discord), I wanted to see if I could replicate it on FrameOS (my software for running anything on an e-ink panel), and sure enough, I got quite close: https://scenes.frameos.net/s/bird-field-journal
This is obviously nowhere as complicated as OP's project, but I thought I'd just share that your project inspired me to build something similar too.
This is the sweetest thing I've seen in a long time :')
Awesome! It's really cool that it uses public domain images as the inspiration, too. And even cooler that you link to the places where you got those public domain images.
That's indeed a cool project and it's this kind of stuff that makes HN a unique corner in this digital world. I can classify this project with [1](Ranked #3 as the most upvoted Show HN of all time), [2](#4) and [3](#6) as non pure-software products that happen to also integrates hardware as well.
The only thing I wish to be added is a short video showing the actual frame in action to express motion and sound so I can better feel it. While the provided image (hero.jpg) gives me a sense of the product, I just can't smell it yet. I visited https://fugleramme.arnegiacomo.dev/ hoping for a live feed but it seems just a static image.
Kudos for the author and I hope we can see the next iteration!
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1. I made an open-source laptop from scratch (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42797260)
2. I replaced a $120k bowling center system with $1,600 in ESP32s (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48968606)
3. A retro video game console I've been working on in my free time (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19393279)
This could totally be a commercial product. I picture it being sold with a bird feeder. Maybe it uses a camera on the feeder.
Then have the screen look like a biologists notebook where he sketches the bird and writes a few notes about the time and its behavior.
Isnt this a fork* of https://x.com/WarnerTeddy/status/2060018688645115964?
https://github.com/Twarner491/AvianVisitors
https://theodore.net/projects/AvianVisitors/
Or maybe im missing to see is the same author? It went viral a few months ago
This is insane.
Going to google/search and stuff when I get home, but for my current living space it would be awesome if I could get a wireless mic to place outside and have this run on my Beelink SER8, and then over local network sync to my Apple TV and display the images kinda like a screensaver?
I've been leveraging Birdnet-2.4 as well, but also ultrasonic-pass and activity-v1 to do broader detection with an ecological targeted microphone. This means I can capture not just bird sounds but also bats and some insects, and acoustic events such as jets and cars.
Applying heterodyne transformations to the bat recordings makes them audible which is fascinating, especially when you catch them in a feeding frenzy.
Similar intent with an indoor display, although nowhere near as beautiful as OPs eink display here. I'm more aiming for a real-time ticker, but this design is wonderful. I'm quite inspired by it!
I've been working on this in the background for a few months, if anyone is interested repo with screenshots is here: https://github.com/simonjgreen/OpenObservatory
Love the aesthetic of 1800s illustrations combined with modern tech. Wonder if it ever misidentifies a squirrel.
Cool project!
For those of you that have a Samsung frame tv and no spare e ink screens:
Inspired by AvianVisitors [1] I made a similar project [2] with an android app for bird detection using Perch, and then displays the birds detected during the last 24 hours with nice art on a samsung frame tv in "art mode".
If you dont want to repurpose an old android device, my app also supports bird detections from birdnet-go and birdweather. It should be plug and play with this project.
Have a look at [1] https://theodore.net/projects/AvianVisitors/ [2] https://github.com/simenf/birdframe
My granny is almost deaf and I will test the idea for her, for she loves birds
Very cool!
I wish E-ink displays were a bit more affordable. The 13 inch one is £229.50. Does anyone know why they are still so expensive, at least at large sizes?
I am working on a voice-chat program and I implemented RNNoise this week. Most of the noise cancellation tools filter for just human voice. so bird noises that you want, may be gone when you are trying to delete the wind noise or something. And without any noise cancellation, It can be very hard to people who are living next to road or very noisy place.
Cool project! Thanks
This is such a cool idea and I want to build one. I wish I had this kind of creativity. I can do the hardware/software side, but great ideas elude me.
I was thinking about building this for a while and now i don't have too, insane. Thanks!
Frigate, the IP camera security system, also does bird classification: https://docs.frigate.video/configuration/bird_classification...
Any easy way to get started on your own version of this without needing a mic would be to pull birds seen nearby using the eBird API and pairing scientific names. Won't be as accurate as a backyard mic, but will give you a direction to start.
Also if you have old e-ink device laying around, you can likely setup BYOD with TRMNL (or just buy one https://trmnl.com/) and send the bird images as a private plugin
This project is super cool! But the price of the e-ink board is quite steep
I would like to build something which can do the exact opposite. Sounds from illustrations.
What would be cool is if you can put AI to identify individual birds. They all have different calls/voices, though largely indistinguishable to human ears. And you can name them and see when they come for a visit.
Came across the Samsung The Frame variant last month too! https://github.com/simenf/birdframe
Impressive, reminds me of this project https://theodore.net/projects/AvianVisitors/ I guess the author was inspired from there
Needs to also have an alarm clock waking you with this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4J1zyrW_VQ&list=RD-4J1zyrW_... :)
I think this is a cool idea but I would never want ai generated art on my wall.
This is an excellent execution and refreshing to see the thought process behind it. Kudos. the ideas such as these, gonna keep us swim sane and specifically extending far beyond the 9-5 is no longer sideProject category but refreshingly needed one.
This is amazing. I wonder if this could be connected to an LLM and render images of birds differently each time?
Awesome! I'm in the middle of setting up a birdnet system for audio recognition, and this is the puzzle piece my project needs!
Wow! Every human mind is wonderful in its own way. It can come up with ideas that other minds can't even comprehend.
Cool project! I set up an e-ink frame with this recently as a gift and it's been so much fun creating themed collections.
this is so cool :) thinking about some remixes already with maritime traffic and tides
I just happen to have an extra Pi and an e-ink display sitting around and I LOVE this idea. Going to try it on my screened in porch - we typically get 10-20 Merlin detections on a decent day so this could be fun!
Cool project!
On a side note. How do people deal with all the ugly mess birds cause in such settings? I'd love to have such thing but seeing all the white stuff on glass door does not really feel fun to me overall.
I built one of these that shows the hacker news front page, nyt front page, my most listened to album of the last 7 days etc.
Refreshes every hour
Battery lasts a few months
Esp32 and a colour eink panel, same as this one I think
This is one of the most wonderful uses of AI I've seen in a while.
I'd buy this if I could.
I would love to build one as a gift but would need to get it working for Australian birds.
a bit of a noob in these field, so apologies for the question, but why bird.net and not the more comprehensive cornell merlin dataset?
So cool, I'm going to try building one myself!
Amazing. Best post I've seen on HN in ages.
Seems like a nice adjacent project to the magic mirror!
All I'd get is pigeons and seagulls...
Bryce Shivers and Lisa Eversman would definitely have this in their boutique. Put a Bird on It!
This is the coolest thing on HN that I've seen in a minute. The whole thing is a perfect blend of ideas with the end result of something that feels... magical. Honestly this is the highest inspiration to me as a builder as I just want to create magical experiences, even if they are just small oddities.