There are two types of interruptions during remote work:

the important ones

and the "quick question" that somehow starts exactly when your camera turns on during a meeting

So I decided to build a small smart lamp that sits outside my office and instantly shows whether:

my camera is active

my microphone is active

or I'm free and available

The goal was simple:

before entering the office, my wife can immediately see if I'm:

on a call

talking to someone

recording something

or finally available for coffee

And honestly... it turned into a surprisingly fun ESPHome + Home Assistant project.

Final Result

The lamp changes colors automatically based on my MacBook state:

State Color

Camera active Red

Microphone active Orange

Neither active Green

Everything is fully local and integrated with Home Assistant.

Demo Video

Technologies Used

ESP32-S3

ESPHome

Home Assistant

WS2812 RGB LED ring

Tinkercad

Bambu Lab 3D printer

Hardware Components

ESP32-S3 Board

I used a tiny ESP32-S3 development…