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Summary
- An AI-powered lamp can help you stay focused by detecting when you start scrolling on your phone.
- The lamp changes its color to red until you put your phone aside, serving as a visual reminder to return to work.
- The DIY project requires a Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32C3 and AI training to spot the phone, providing a stricter accountability system.
Working or studying when you have an endless source of entertainment sitting right next to you can be a nightmare. I've seen countless times where people come together as a study or work group to get stuff done, only to spend the time showing each other videos and discussing new media and getting even less done than before. Worst of all, sometimes you don't even realise you're spending a lot of time on your phone until it's 2 am. Oops.
If you want an accountability buddy that will never falter from its duty, I urge you to check out this DIY lamp. It uses AI to identify the exact moment you start scrolling your TikTok feed and bathes your workplace in an ominous blood-red light until you get back to work.
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This AI-powered lamp is always watching, always ready, and always furious
In a post on Hackaday, tinkerer Makestreme showed off their latest device. At first glance, it looks like a regular lamp; there's nothing suspicious about the design, and it beams a warm light onto whatever you're reading. In fact, it's so innocuous that you may be tempted to pull out your phone and check out your Reddit feed real quick. That's when the lamp's fury begins to build.
Once it senses the presence of your phone, it will slowly change its bulb color from white to red. The red light will continue until you put your phone aside. Once the offending device is gone again, the bulb will calm down and revert to its regular light color.
The inspiration for this idea is pretty amusing:
This fun project idea came to me during a conversation with a colleague at work. He was complaining about how his kids use their smartphones while studying, and end up doomscrolling after one notification pops up. I jokingly said, “What if the study lamp could get angry when that happens and alert you somehow?”
If you want to learn how to build your own, be sure to check out the linked Hackaday post above. The project calls for a Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32C3 and the Arduino IDE to get everything made, which includes training an AI to spot the offending phone when it comes into view. And, yes, nothing is stopping you from simply picking up your phone and moving out of the lamp's vision, but if you're finding loopholes in your own accountability plan, you need something a lot stricter than a lamp.
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