The Wizard of Oz is a timeless classic in both book and movie form and there probably isn’t a person on the planet who doesn’t remember the movie version of Oz, with his giant projected green head surrounded by fire.
Later on, the four heroes (and Toto, too!) find that the Wizard is just a normal elderly man who used technology to create the massive head to fool everyone into thinking he is “all knowing and all powerful.” Software developer Jeremy Noonan used that scene as his inspiration when he designed his Wizard Wall, which projects pieces of user’s faces across five separate displays.
Jeremy detailed his build process and the inspiration behind his unique creation, “Inspired by the Wizard of Oz and a love of re-purposed technology, I have built what I call the Wizard Wall. Five CRT televisions, each hooked up to their own Raspberry Pi with a Pi Camera Module. When a person stands in the right spot, the cameras are focused on different parts of the person’s face. The left eye on one television, the right on another. The same for the nose and mouth.”
He goes on to say, “Combined with an Arduino based voice changer, the person becomes the Wizard of the Wall. Colors and effects on the cameras can be controlled remotely with a python based web interface. Walk up and try your ‘face’ on the wall.” While it may be a simple build, it’s a great example of what can be done with aging technology and is certainly fun for children (and adults) of all ages.
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