Creator Vincent Buso calls his little device “Keymu” which is possibly a combination of the words keychain and emulator. Keymu is basically a miniature emulation device that mirrors Game Boy, NES, SNES and Game Boy Advance games.
Keymu runs on an Intel Edison processor to operate the game emulation software. It needs a 220mAh lithium battery that can be recharged via micro-USB connection.
The screen of the Keymu is a 1.5-inch OLED display with a 128×128 resolution. Buso had the folding clamshell case 3D printed. It also has a tiny 11.7 millimeter speaker.
Buso claims on his Hakaday.io page that the project was inspired by Sprite_TM’s mini Game Boy presentation in the 2016 Hackaday Super Conference. The event is a venue where hardware hackers, builders, engineers and enthusiasts can gather to share their ideas and creations.
He bills the Keymu as an open-source project and even provides tutorials on how to create one.
For those equipped with the necessary skills, this might be a fun project to tackle. Otherwise, those interested in having a keychain Nintendo game emulator will have to wait for Buso or another maker to start selling them. JB