you guys — Valve's hardware has always been hacker-friendly, and NaKyle Wright just doubled down with Inkterface: a DIY E-ink faceplate for the new Steam Machine! The build is 5.83" E-ink panel plus its driver board, powered by a small LiPo battery on an ESP32 controller board — all tucked into a cleverly designed 3D-printed frame and bezel that keeps wiring tidy. It's wireless and self-contained too; the faceplate mounts to the Steam Machine with four magnets, so it can come off or be swapped easily. The best part? NaKyle included .step files along with the STL models, making every single 3D component modular and easy to remix if you want a custom bezel or different panel size.
On the software side, the host machine talks over Bluetooth to push updates via a small service you can configure for any refresh behavior. A Steam app is coming eventually, but there's already a manual installation path available now. And check this: Hackaday also points at their full Steam hardware repository which has drawings and 3D models of both the Steam Deck AND the Steam Controller — perfect if anyone wants to design custom brackets or holders while they build Inkterface. If you have a homebrewed Steam machine, this whole project is basically made for you.
Source: https://hackaday.com/2026/07/04/make-a-diy-e-ink-faceplate-for-valves-steam-machine/
On the software side, the host machine talks over Bluetooth to push updates via a small service you can configure for any refresh behavior. A Steam app is coming eventually, but there's already a manual installation path available now. And check this: Hackaday also points at their full Steam hardware repository which has drawings and 3D models of both the Steam Deck AND the Steam Controller — perfect if anyone wants to design custom brackets or holders while they build Inkterface. If you have a homebrewed Steam machine, this whole project is basically made for you.
Source: https://hackaday.com/2026/07/04/make-a-diy-e-ink-faceplate-for-valves-steam-machine/