Just when you’d thought you’d seen every unique display method possible, Unexpected Maker has come up with something new and brilliant. The Laser Segment Display is available 7 or 14-segment versions, and shows characters using RGB LEDs behind the laser-cut pieces of clear acrylic—thus the “Laser” moniker. Segments are held in place by a black acrylic base and powered using a custom PCB.
The resulting display is properly described in the demo video below as having a “sci-fi” feel to it, only lighting up the edges of the clear acrylic segments when activated. Each display unit can be chained together, and everything is controlled using custom open-source libraries in conjunction with the Adafruit NeoPixel library. This allows 58 characters to be shown in the case of the 14-segment (or “X”) display, and 32 for the 7-segment version. The libraries can also be extended as needed for even more display options.
The PCBs for these kits are available unassembled, or soldered together if you’d rather not deal with that part of the process. Acrylic items are not put together in either case, saving you the joy of final assembly or peeling off the cut pieces’ protective paper!
