Germany-based programmer puts first-person shooter game on a Wi-Fi toothbrush
Aaron Christophel, a programmer and hardware tinkerer from Germany, has turned a Wi-Fi-enabled toothbrush into a gaming device that can play the classic first-person shooter, Doom. This creative project was sparked by a false report stating that three million smart toothbrushes were involved in a DDoS attack, causing millions of euros in damages in Switzerland. Although the toothbrush botnet never happened, it piqued Christophel's curiosity about the capabilities of smart toothbrushes.
Gaming on a smart toothbrush
The latest experiment has led to the development of a playable version of Doom on a smart toothbrush. In a video showcasing the Doombrush, Christophel navigates Doomguy's perspective using a mouse within a hellish environment scaled down to toothbrush size.
How was the experiment conducted?
Christophel acquired a Planck Mini smart toothbrush, which, according to Amazon's description, gathers brushing data and monitors children's brushing habits remotely through the internet. The brush is equipped with a compact ESP32-C3 development board boasting 4MB of flash storage. Christophel adapted the toothbrush to run Doom, drawing inspiration from an open-source project by SpritesMods on Github, where the game was previously implemented on a Christmas tree ornament. Adapting Doom for the toothbrush involved making some modifications to the game.
Doom on unconventional devices
Doom is one of the early titles to establish the presence of first-person shooter genre. Over time, it has been adapted to run on various unconventional devices, such as an IKEA lamp and "magic eye" puzzle. The game's flexibility and the ingenuity of its fans have resulted in numerous unique and surprising combinations. Christophel's toothbrush project is another example of how this iconic game can be incorporated into everyday items, adding a touch of fun and excitement to ordinary routines.
