First released by Texas Instruments in 2004, the TI-84 Plus remains a hugely popular calculator in the education market. A custom mod now brings new features and capabilities to the device, potentially turning an ordinary TI-84 Plus into the ultimate cheating tool.
The TI-84 Plus graphing calculator offers a standardized design that dominates the global education market, even with competition from smartphones that can do the same job. This popular calculator already has some advanced features, but with a bit of engineering creativity it can do a lot more.
Hardware hacker ChromaLock recently posted a video showing how they added an invisible modification to the TI-84 Plus Silver Edition and TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition. The hack can give the calculator internet access, along with extra features such as ChatGPT access and Wi-Fi support.
The TI-32 mod is undetectable and can bypass the anti-cheating protocols used by educational institutions. ChromaLock does not encourage "academic dishonesty," stressing that the mod and video were created for educational purposes. Even so, a modded TI-84 Plus can do far more than Texas Instruments' engineers ever imagined.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bicjxl4EcJg
The TI-32 setup uses an ESP32 C3 microcontroller to emulate another TI-84, connecting the two devices over Wi-Fi. A modified TI-84 shows no obvious signs of being hacked, but tech-savvy users can unlock the mod's features through the calculator's text interface. ChromaLock can even load additional features from a preconfigured server or from a personal computer acting as one.
In the video, ChromaLock demonstrates how to use the mod to feed complex math problems into ChatGPT's AI system or quickly pull up vocabulary definitions without searching the internet. There is also a "chat" feature, though it requires a complicated setup with two modified devices and a helper. Users can also access graphical resources through a built-in image viewer.
Users can further upgrade the modified TI-84 by creating custom apps and serving them from the server. ChromaLock hinted at a few apps currently in development, including a "camera app" that is being tested.
Other applications for the TI-32 mod listed on its GitHub page include changing Wi-Fi settings directly from the calculator's small screen, support for color images, multi-page responses from ChatGPT, larger menus, basic web browsing with HTTPS encryption, and more.
Source: Techspot
