Sounds like a great idea.
Have you thought of using the?ATSAMD processors?
I'd been looking at processors for an IoT project. Was amazed that the?ATSAMD processors, in many cases, cost less than the ATmega 8 bit processors. When you consider that many of these chips have built in USB support, eliminating the cost of the extra USB chip, that really helps the total cost.?
Maybe you could do a?Raduino board with a surface mount?ATSAMD directly on the board with the pins necessary to drive the display.?
It is also great these processors are supported with the familiar Arduino IDE and libraries. I still love the little Nano boards, though.
Tom, wb6b