DIY Virtual High Tech Etch-A-Sketch (Complete With Shake-To-Erase)

All I have to do is hear the words ‘Etch-A-Sketch’ and I’m instantly transported back to my childhood when I doodled on an Etch-A-Sketch in the backseat of my parent’s car almost everyday. Doodling on an Etch-A-Sketch was such an imaginative time for me, and I’ll never forget it. If you grew up with one of those toys too, and if you’re a geek, you’ll definitely like this. It’s a DIY virtual version of an Etch-A-Sketch that comes complete with the “shake to erase” feature, which we all know is essential.

This marvelous creation was conceived, coded and created by Instructables user Mizchief100. It took him 3 hours to write the code, test it, and build it. Since his tutorial is so detailed, it will probably only take you an hour or two to make it. You can access all the complete instructions by clicking over to Virtual Etch-A-Sketch. According to him, “The analog noise makes the lines a bit squigly like the real thing.”

Imagine sitting at your computer at work, bored, on a Monday afternoon. Wouldn’t it be great to add a little Etch-A-Sketch fun to your day to inspire your creativity? There’s no doubt all your coworkers would be jealous and want you to build one for them too. I still see an Etch-A-Sketch at the store every now and then, but for the most part, their era is over. The high tech toys kids have available to them today often overshadow the simple brilliance of the classic Etch-A-Sketch, and this is a great way to update its charm and appeal for the new generation of kids who have never played with one before.

Heck, this might even be a project that kids can build themselves, depending on how interested they are in building geeky stuff like this. Mizchief100 even admits it’s a good introduction to potentiometers, accelerometers, arduino and processing. Have fun!

Make Your Own Virtual Etch-A-Sketch

Via: [Instructables]