reMarkable Tablet Reimagined as Tom Riddle's Disappearing Ink Diary

A new open-source project has transformed the reMarkable Paper Pro into an AI-powered replica of Tom Riddle's diary from the Harry Potter series. This innovative mod allows users to write on the e-ink display with a stylus, have their text vanish, and then receive an AI-generated response that appears in animated, flowing handwriting. The goal is to create an immersive, screen-glow-free interaction that feels like writing in a physical notebook, eschewing traditional chat interfaces for a more magical experience.

What happened

A developer named Maxime Rivest created a mod called 'riddle' for the reMarkable Paper Pro. This mod replaces the tablet's standard interface with a system that captures handwritten input, sends it to a vision-enabled LLM for processing, and then displays the AI's reply in animated handwriting that also fades away. The setup requires the tablet to be in developer mode and uses a launcher to run the custom application, which takes over the display engine.

The system supports various OpenAI-compatible APIs, allowing it to connect to services like OpenAI, OpenRouter, and Groq, or even local LLM servers. The interaction is designed to be seamless: write, pause, watch your ink disappear, and then see the AI's response materialize on the screen. The entire process, from writing to the first ink of the response, takes approximately one second, with the animation beginning before the AI has fully generated its reply.

Why it matters

This project represents a fascinating intersection of hardware modification, AI, and creative user experience design. It demonstrates how e-ink devices, often perceived as purely for reading or note-taking, can be repurposed for novel AI interactions that prioritize a tactile and ephemeral feel over constant digital presence. For developers and builders, it showcases the potential for deep system-level modifications to create unique applications, pushing the boundaries of what consumer electronics can do.

How to think about it

Consider this project as a proof-of-concept for ephemeral AI interfaces on specialized hardware. It highlights the value of removing digital clutter – no keyboards, no chat bubbles, just the core input and output. When approaching similar projects, focus on the user experience first: what is the desired interaction, and how can the hardware and software be bent to achieve that feeling? Think about the lifecycle of the content – if it's meant to disappear, how does that affect the user's perception and engagement?

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