A Camera So Cute We Could Just Eat It

There has been a trend in recent years of confectionary magicians blurring the line between cakes and just about every other imaginable object. SNL’s Mikey Day even hosted a lackluster TV show on the subject called Is It Cake?, which challenged bakers to disguise their cakes and contests to identify the edible frauds. But almost all of those cakes have one thing in common: they’re static and lifeless. That’s why we’re so enamored by this cake created by Hazal and Abigail that is also a completely functional camera.

This isn’t new territory for Abigail. She has a website showcasing her many sugary projects and most of them incorporate electronics, as well as some level of interactivity. When she met Hazal, she described herself as a “confectionery roboticist.” Hazal works for Viam, a robotics company, and thought it would be fun to use Abigail’s talents for an upcoming event. They have a running joke at Viam that everything is a camera—from actual imaging sensors to bump sensors. Thus, the pair selected a camera as the subject for the cake.

If it weren’t for the electronics, this would look like the kind of cake a talented baker might construct out of fondant to celebrate the launch of a new camera model from Panasonic or something. It isn’t quite realistic enough to fool anyone nearby, but it looks fantastic.

Then the electronics bring it to life, because it actually works like a real camera. Inside the frosting-covered lens, there is a USB webcam. That provides a live feed to a Raspberry Pi hidden in the facade of the camera body. An LCD panel sits exactly where you would expect it to, showing event attendees a live view of what the camera sees. Finally, an arcade button and thermal printer sit in front of the sheet cake platform.

Hazal programmed the Raspberry Pi with facial recognition so it can detect anyone within view of the camera. When it does, it illuminates a ring of NeoPixel LEDs on the front of the faux lens. If an attendee wants a photo of themselves, they can push the button and the LEDs with flash to indicate a timer countdown. The receipt printer will then spit out information on the photo, such as time taken and the photo number, so they can grab their picture later.

This is such a fun project that it is a shame that it can’t last forever.