InkBoy: a modder runs Game Boy games on an e-paper display

A modder known as "Bo Made It" is developing InkBoy, open source software that runs Game Boy games on an e-paper (electronic ink) display. The build relies on a 1.54-inch screen driven by e-reader style hardware, paired with a 3D-printed control unit. The project was spotted by The Register, then picked up by Time Extension.

The idea is to rapidly charge and discharge the screen's black and white pixels to reproduce the Game Boy's animation. Bo also wrote a driver, with some AI assistance, that stops a pixel's white-to-black transition partway through, producing intermediate greys that approximate the console's four shades. He says he noticed the display was already producing grey "by accident".

Super Mario Land at 30 frames per second, but an uncertain future

The project is still in development. Super Mario Land runs smoothly at 30 frames per second on the 1.54-inch build, but it is unknown how long an e-reader can sustain that refresh rate and processing load. The software code is available on the InkBoy GitHub repository (the place to start for the getting-started guide), and the controller schematic on the controller repository. As this is an experimental project, don't expect a finished product.

Source: Time Extension