Comments on: On Air Light 2023: Easy DIY Status Light for Microsoft Teams and Zoom

By: Hans Scharler

Hans Scharler — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 14:31:02 +0000

In reply to MC. Thanks for the comment!

By: MC

MC — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 00:26:45 +0000

In reply to Steve. Love it! Both articles are really good and very helpful in getting a similar setup going

By: Name Withheld

Name Withheld — Fri, 01 Sep 2023 15:53:20 +0000

Very cool project. I have an alternate version that takes about 5 seconds and is about 5 cents. Cut a piece of cardstock and fold it so it hangs over the camera lens on the laptop. If I want the camera to see me I slide it over. Some webcams have a shutter/blinder that slides or flips over to cover the lens. I use my camera all the time, but rarely uncover the lens. I use the background image feature in Zoom to present a message to my coworkers–a picture of a pizza when I’m at lunch, a picture of a TV test screen when I’m away from my desk, or a picture of a coworker’s avatar so I can impersonate him (just for fun.)

Now a more useful project for me would be detecting when my mic is not muted and turning on a large ‘HOT MIC’ sign. The tiny muted mic icon in Zoom is sometimes hard to see and sometimes covered. When presenting it can be hard to access as well. Maybe just having an external mic with a big mute button and a light would be good enough. No special computer hardware needed.

By: Hans Scharler

Hans Scharler — Fri, 17 Mar 2023 16:54:52 +0000

In reply to Steve. That's awesome! Thanks for sharing your project.

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 17 Feb 2023 15:28:45 +0000

This is a great project that inspired me to make a different version with the same effect. I wrote about it here:
https://stevecraft.org/2023/02/17/the-on-air-light-project/