This Raspberry Pi transparent display is made using a glass dome

One of the coolest aspects of the Raspberry Pi is its compatibility with a wide range of hardware. For example, makers use all kinds of screens ranging from super wide touch screens to eInk panels. However, VEEB Projects over at YouTube has put together a really cool transparent display using an optical illusion and a glass dome.

This isn't the first Raspberry Pi project we've covered that takes advantage of the Pepper's Ghost effect. One of our favorite examples is this cool ghostly betta fish project that uses a glass sphere to project a fish inside the bowl. Today's project works the same way but works as a general display instead of focusing on a single subject.

Inside the glass dome is a clear reflector that's positioned at a 45-degree angle. The Pi is actually outputting to a small round LCD panel housed in the base of the dome. According to VEEB Projects, it took a bit of algebra to get the distortion just right so the effect looks like an invisible or transparent screen. A privacy shield was also created so you can't easily see the source image from the LCD panel.

(Image credit: VEEB Projects)

(Image credit: VEEB Projects)

(Image credit: VEEB Projects)

VEEB Projects opted to use a 16GB model Raspberry Pi 5 to power the project but you could recreate it with a lighter model like the Raspberry Pi Zero 2. The Pi is connected to a round display, that we mentioned before, which fits easily in the base of the dome. This base was created from scratch by VEEB Projects just for this project and was 3D printed to house all of the hardware inside.

VEEB Projects was kind enough to make the project open source, sharing all of the code you need to recreate the effect and even the 3D models used for the custom base. If you want to get a closer look at the source code, head over to this project page shared to GitHub. That said, it might be tricky find the exact dome you need to fit the design in this project.

If you want to see this Raspberry Pi project in action, head over to the official VEEB Projects YouTube channel. Be sure to follow them for more cool creations as well as any future updates to this one.