magic table : a futuristic coffee table

A coffee table with a screen inside it, controlled by waving your hand in the air. Started as a school project with a spare Raspberry Pi and a TV I wasn’t using.

It runs MagicMirror² — an open-source smart mirror platform — repurposed for a table. The display shows news, weather, Premier League scores, and crypto prices, all in a modular layout I can swap around.

The fun part is the gesture control. A Pimoroni Skywriter sits under the surface and detects mid-air hand movements. Inspired by the iPod Classic click wheel — circular motions control volume, swipes navigate between screens.

How it’s built: Raspberry Pi drives everything — display, gesture input, data fetching. MagicMirror² handles the modular UI. Pimoroni Skywriter HAT does capacitive gesture recognition through the table surface.