Modder Hacks Doom onto Smart Plant Pot

A plant pot has been hacked and modified by a YouTuber who specializes in hardware to make it capable of running an almost playable version of Doom. It may sound unbelievable, but it’s true.

Aaron Christophel, a popular YouTuber and hardware modifier, has gained recognition for his skill in hacking Doom onto various unconventional devices. These include the ‘Doomed Toothbrush’ and even an adult device. His most recent project involves implementing Doom onto a plant pot.

Christophel bought a compact ‘smart planter’ from AliExpress. The purpose of this gadget is to monitor the well-being of the plant inside and notify the user of necessary care with adorable messages displayed on the front screen.

It was clear that Christophel had intended to use the display screen for a different purpose. The smart planter was equipped with an ESP32 that had 8MB of flash memory and an additional 8MB of external RAM. Therefore, installing Doom on the device was not as difficult for Christophel as it had been for his previous projects.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZFoKyYt2EM

DOOMed Smart Planter (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZFoKyYt2EM)

According to Christophel, the device was “a joke”due to its small base which did not provide adequate support for a plant. Additionally, the sensors intended to measure moisture levels were not very useful. He also stated that the device was not necessary for monitoring a plant’s status.

The smart planter offers a variety of input options, such as a front touch screen, side strips that function as touch controls, and at least one button on the back. However, Christophel has not yet connected these inputs, rendering it impossible to control the game at the moment.

The video did not provide a thorough explanation of Christophel’s hack to enable the device to run Doom, and he also did not mention any potential plans for the Doom plant pot in the future. Nevertheless, it highlights the fact that any device with a screen can be used to play Doom.