New Magic Mirror with motion detection = ToF?

[MilkShake]

Hi,
I am contemplating building a mirror with Google Assistant, but would like to get some input on the selected hardware. I do not like PIR as the sensor would be sitting in the frame and it would not look good imo.

I have a RPI4 for the job.

I have a small USB mic. I am hoping that it will be able to pick up voice, even though it is sitting behind the mirror.

I will play audio through a bluetooth speaker. Is this stable or should I use a small jack speaker instead?

For motion detection I bought the ToF unit VL53L1X. That should work from inside the mirror and thus nothing will be visible on the outside. Has anyone used this before for motion detection?

Really hoping for some input.

Best Regards

[MilkShake]

@MilkShake Actually, I do not think that the ToF will work from behind a mirror, so I might have to go with the PIR.

[Fozi]

@MilkShake said in New Magic Mirror with motion detection = ToF?:

VL53L1X

You could use a microwave sensor (see link in my signature).
My experience with usb mic behind the mirror was really bad. It hardly picked up my voice.

[MilkShake]

@Fozi Thanks man. I will look into the foil + microwave sensor. For movement detection a very narrow angle could be used, just in front of the mirror.

Regarding the microphone, how did you solve that?

[Fozi]

@MilkShake My Plan was to install Awsome Alexa on the Pi, but as the mic didn‘t work I went the ghetto route and plugged my Echo Dot into one of the USB ports. The USB port powers the Dot and that’s it. I can now use Alexa as usual and installed MMM-AlexaControl to control the mirror. Just works. For audio output, e.g. for YouTube, I use the built-in speakers of the monitor panel. They don‘t sound that great (2W output) but it’s ok for me because I don’t need to run the mirror as a full blown audio system.