Trading cards made with e-ink displays
I made a thing! In 2014, I was holding a stack of iPhones and thought to myself: "Hey, if I had each phone display a playing card, I could click a button and they'd shuffle themselves" I pared that idea all the way down to this: trading cards made of e-ink displays. Right now, each card costs me about $20 each, but with only a bit more scale, I think I can get that down to $10. In doing this project, I learned how to design electronics and circuit boards. I learned Rust and wrote my first driver, I upped my CAD skills, 3D printed, and did my first resin casting. I generated the images on the…
In plain words
Trading cards made with e-ink displays are digital cards that show different images and can be shuffled electronically. Each card contains a small e-ink screen and costs around $20 to produce, with potential to reach $10 at scale. The product is for collectors and enthusiasts interested in interactive physical trading cards. The maker designed custom electronics and circuit boards, learned Rust programming, and used AI-generated images for the card designs.
written from the facts on this page · September 2026
From the sources
In the maker’s words, at launch
I made a thing! In 2014, I was holding a stack of iPhones and thought to myself: "Hey, if I had each phone display a playing card, I could click a button and they'd shuffle themselves" I pared that idea all the way down to this: trading cards made of e-ink displays. Right now, each card costs me about $20 each, but with only a bit more scale, I think I can get that down to $10. In doing this project, I learned how to design electronics and circuit boards. I learned Rust and wrote my first driver, I upped my CAD skills, 3D printed, and did my first resin casting. I generated the images on the cards using stable-diffusion. HN always seems to appreciate new uses for e-ink. Thought I'd share :)
More dev tools this month
the category →
Open-source GTM skills for technical founders
Dev tools · 29d ago · gtmcofounder.com
Lettertrace▲375Track your AI visibility for free (using your own API keys!)
Dev tools · 25d ago · lettertrace.com
