Fun and a great learning experience, sure. But, at least with respect to infrared, I'm not seeing the cost effective part when fully integrated solutions with ~

Fun and a great learning experience, sure. But, at least with respect to infrared, I'm not seeing the cost effective part when fully integrated solutions with ~19x greater resolution and then some can be had for $400 retail; the BOM for such a project will approach (if not exceed) this figure. Prototyping is often deceptively expensive.