
Building My Connected Shower - viacoffee
https://medium.com/@drewry/building-my-connected-shower-31d148b03539#.8gz7diu1u
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lvs
So it's a stock projector pointed at a wall at an off perspective.

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zyxley
My thoughts on this kind of thing have always been more like "put a tablet in
a waterproof container and suction cup it to the outside of a glass shower".

Apparently you can get shower curtains that have a transparent tablet pouch
for a similar effect:
[http://www.hammacher.com/Product/Default.aspx?sku=83858](http://www.hammacher.com/Product/Default.aspx?sku=83858)

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reustle
Cool projects! Reminds me of this guys bathroom mirror, and makes me think
people spend too much time in the bathroom in the morning :)

[https://medium.com/@maxbraun/my-bathroom-mirror-is-
smarter-t...](https://medium.com/@maxbraun/my-bathroom-mirror-is-smarter-than-
yours-94b21c6671ba)

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Jtsummers
I kinda like the smart mirror one. I used to use a mirror as a white board.
Track some basic things like physical stats like weekly weight tracking, daily
exercising tracking (check if I did, none if I didn't, very visible since I
saw it literally every day), and some todo information. A smart mirror could
be nice, and doesn't necessarily mean you spend too much time in front of it.

For instance, I never turn on my television in the morning (I barely make it
to the kitchen to pull out something for breakfast). Having an immediate
dashboard showing the weather, my day's events, reflecting some stats off of
fitbit or a smart scale, could be a really cool tool for just improving
information visibility, and making it immediately apparent that you are (or
are not) doing what you intend to do and keeping you on track. And harder to
back out of than an .org agenda file or my mirror-as-whiteboard routine due to
reduced UI friction.

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6stringmerc
Lovely write-up and I think the project itself sounds very interesting. Using
'hobby' ideas to enhance skills and learn new pathways to implementation. I
can totally dig it and glad I got to see it through here. Makes me think I
should probably try and follow some DIY-oriented aggregators here and there.

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Dnguyen
how do you deal with the steam? The condensation will fog up the projector
lens. And that environment is not good for the projector innards at all.

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noonespecial
The first touted feature of the projector is "Fully sealed design, efficient
heat dissipation pathways". But more than that, its only $34. So essentially
disposable.

I think the idea is neat but the bigger concern I have is that if I had one,
it would cause me to linger in the shower wasting water and power (to heat
that water) which might be scarce and expensive in some localities.

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pavel_lishin
> _it would cause me to linger in the shower wasting water and power (to heat
> that water) which might be scarce and expensive in some localities._

Isn't that like the old "finish your vegetables, there are starving children
in Africa" adage? Just because there's a water shortage in Peru doesn't mean
that it makes any given sense for you to skimp on your water usage.

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Jtsummers
Yes and no. The vegetables thing was always somewhat silly, because the
vegetables on a plate in the US had no possible way of helping someone
starving across oceans. [EDIT: 0]

Water and electricity usage, on the other hand, could have more immediate
impact on the globe. Fresh water is scarce in many regions, including in the
US. Fresh water production and distribution isn't free and has an impact on
the environment (see the California aqueduct project and its impact on
locations it redirected water from). Electricity isn't free, it requires the
consumption of fuels (presently). Consequently a demand on those resources: 1)
drives up their costs; 2) necessitates more mining and/or drilling. It's
impossible to argue that those actions have no environmental impact.

What's the consequence of this on someone in Peru? Potentially more jobs if
they have resources people want. So that's good. Potentially more harm to
their environment. Potentially more difficulty in accessing fuels needed for
energy production if costs are driven too high (with present market value of
oil, a non-issue). (I suppose I should research the Peruvian economy to know
what the particular impact might be).

Now, is my 20 minute shower this morning trying to wake up and loosen up some
extremely sore muscles going to have any impact? Probably not. Over the course
of the year? Potentially. Even ignoring the potential impact of a nation of
twenty-minute daily showerers, there's just the personal impact of reduced
spending power due to increased spending on water and electricity (water is
"free" for me, so my electric bill is my concern).

These are just the things that pop to mind, they can probably all be refuted
or decent counterarguments presented for why they're less of a concern
compared to X, Y, or Z.

0: That is, telling kids they should finish their vegetables because of
starving kids in China was silly/stupid/moronic. By that stage, the
vegetables' consumption at the table has no impact on anyone else on the
planet. They'll be eaten, or be discarded. The point of impact was in
determining where to ship them and where to produce them in the first place.
Since production in location X has no impact on production in location Y (for
the most part, see my reference to the California aqueduct for a
counterexample), the determination of where to sell the produced vegetables is
what matters if you want to have a global impact.

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eevilspock
> That is, telling kids they should finish their vegetables because of
> starving kids in China was silly/stupid/moronic.

No it's not. It's about teaching kids awareness. Of not taking things for
granted. Of appreciating their privilege.

The stereotype of Millennials being narcissistic and spoiled has a lot of
truth.

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joezydeco
Why not put a piece of translucent contact paper on the outside of one of the
shower walls and project onto that?

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alvern
Man, all I can think of now is how to build an augmented reality I/O system.
Qwerty bathroom tiles?

