F1 Dashboard Developed for Quote/0 E-Paper

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F1 Dashboard Development for Quote/0

An F1 race information dashboard has been developed for “Quote/0,” an e-paper device from the sspai co-founder project. The project, created by sspai’s Belcheck, is a native macOS app that automatically displays F1 schedules, results, point standings, and the status of featured drivers on a desktop e-paper device.

For F1 fans, checking the start time of the next race or recent results requires taking out a smartphone, opening an app, and searching through a large amount of content to find the needed information. The motivation for this development was to make such information constantly visible as “ambient information.”

Leveraging the Quote/0 Canvas API

Quote/0 is an e-paper information display from the sspai co-founder project, and can be operated from Dot’s developer platform using an API key and device ID. The device provides interfaces such as Text, Image, and Canvas. The Canvas API not only sends pre-created images, but also has the ability to pass data and layout structures together to the device.

Titles, numbers, lists, borders, and hierarchy can all be generated based on current data. In other words, there is no need to replace Quote/0’s firmware; the Mac simply organizes the F1 data, generates cards suited to the e-paper, and pushes them to the device. — Belcheck (sspai)

This approach enables developers to generate dynamic content from their own data sources and deliver it to the e-paper without changing the device firmware.

Configuration of 11 Boards

In the end, 11 boards were created and divided into 4 groups.

The “Results” group displays the top 3 of the most recent session. While a race is in progress, it prioritizes showing the real-time top 3 and the current lap count, switching to the final standings once the race ends. “Sprint/Race Results” excludes practice and qualifying, keeping only the sessions that actually produce race results.

The “Time” group displays the dates and times of the next two sessions. It includes the Grand Prix name, circuit, session type, and local start time, with the time converted to the Mac’s time zone. The “Next Race Countdown” displays the number of days until the next race and the circuit layout.

In the “Drivers” group, selecting a featured driver in settings generates three types of boards: season points, results from all recent sessions, and results from the most recent race and sprint. The “Teams” group consists of 4 boards, displaying team season points alongside the individual standings of the two drivers.

Optimizing for the Monochrome Screen

Quote/0’s screen is a 152 × 296 pixel monochrome e-paper display. The developer initially tried adding side views of the cars, statistical items, a complete driver list, and decorative elements, but after checking on the actual device, concluded that these compressed the font size and diminished the presence of the most important data.

A stripped-down design philosophy was carried through: race results show only the top 3, driver results set the standings at nearly half the screen, and the points panel makes position and points the two largest elements. Since team colors cannot be used on a monochrome screen, hierarchy is built through font size, weight, borders, margins, and positioning.

Data Source and Technical Architecture

The app uses ESPN’s public F1 data as its primary source. Circuit layouts are provided as built-in app resources, so the layouts remain displayable even when the network connection is unstable. It includes the complete 2026 session schedule and layout data for all 78 circuits in history recorded in F1DB.

The app is implemented as a native macOS app that runs entirely locally.

Editorial Opinion

Short-Term Impact This project presents a practical example of custom app development for e-paper devices. Data-driven content generation using the Canvas API is an approach applicable to other e-paper vendors, and insights into the trade-off between information density and visibility could contribute to UI/UX design for similar devices. Examples of e-paper used as ambient information are limited but steadily accumulating. Long-Term Perspective In the context of ambient computing, e-paper is being reevaluated as a device that can deliver constantly connected information with minimal cognitive load. In F1, a domain where time-series data is important, the design philosophy of having 11 boards each answer only specific questions suggests the effectiveness of “subtractive design” in an age of information overload. It will be interesting to see whether this design philosophy spreads to other domains such as news, stock prices, and sports. Editorial Question The use cases of e-paper devices—which require custom app development—could also serve as a point of differentiation from smartphones and tablets.

References

• “我做了一个 Quote/0 看板，把 F1 赛程、积分和结果留在桌面”, by Belcheck — 少数派, 2026-08-09T07:00:00.000Z (ARR)
• Source URL: https://sspai.com/post/113158