This Halo Helmet’s Visor Can Change From Opaque to Transparent with the Push of a Button

If you like watching those “luxuries that rich people have, which you could never afford” videos, you may have seen fancy windows on cars and houses that have electronically-controlled tint. Porsche, for example, offers the “Variable Light Control” feature on the sunroof of the Taycan. For his most recent project, YouTuber LeMaster Tech used similar technology to add a visor to a Halo helmet that can change from opaque to transparent at the press of a button.

The key component here is PDLC (Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal) switchable smart film. The operating principle behind PDLC smart film is pretty much the same as that of conventional LCDs. The film is full of embedded liquid crystal molecules and without current, their orientation is mostly random. The polarity of the molecules doesn’t allow light to pass through. But when they receive current, they all align and light can get past—the film becomes transparency. However, this film doesn’t allow for control over specific points and so it can’t display pixels. The entire sheet of film acts as one huge pixel.

In addition to that neat behavior, this PDLC smart film is flexible and can be cut to shape. To form the visor, LeMaster Tech trimmed off a substantial portion of the film and it still worked as intended.

That film went in a resin cast Halo ODST helmet made by Anthony Andress of enforce_props, who specializes in high-quality prop/cosplay armor. The film requires 20V to become transparent and that power comes from a large battery pack. An Arduino Nano controls that power, so it can toggle the visor between transparent and opaque states. The Arduino itself receives its power from the same battery pack through a buck converter.

But even when the visor is transparent, reflections from ambient lighting can make it difficult to see the wearer’s face and that would diminish the effect. So, LeMaster Tech added interior illumination with NeoPixel LEDs. Those light up the wearer’s face and make the transition from opaque to transparent very obvious. A 3D-printed handheld controller has three buttons to control the transparency, LED color, and LED effects.

LeMaster Tech has finished his portion of the project and now it is Andress’s turn. He’ll be working his magic to give the unpainted helmet a finish worthy of the Halo franchise.