Light up
First press: the LED array turns on and shows a message — currently my wife's name. Enough when I'm only lightly distracted.
ESP32 · ESP-NOW
Daddy Caller
A two-piece desk alert I built for my wife: one discreet button at her end, one LED matrix under my monitor that gets harder to ignore until I react.
Why it exists
While coding I miss WhatsApp messages far too often. When my wife needed help with our children, a silent phone notification was not enough to pull me out of deep focus.
I wanted something physical under my main screen — a signal I cannot swipe away. Push the button, and the display under my monitor lights up.
Three levels of nagging
One press is polite. Ignoring it is not rewarded.
Blink
If I still have not reacted after a few minutes, a second press makes the display blink. Harder to pretend I did not see it.
Go bright
Still nothing? The last step cranks the matrix brighter and deliberately more obnoxious until I get up.
Display, button, ESP-NOW
ESP32 XIAO ×2
ESP-NOW
LED matrix
1000 mAh LiPo
Both ends use a Seeed ESP32 XIAO. The display drives a flexible LED matrix under my monitor and can show other messages later — each child could eventually get their own Daddy Caller.
The button unit has no visible switch: an inductive sensor detects a finger through the plastic case. A status LED confirms that a help signal was sent. A 1000 mAh LiPo keeps it running for a long stretch between charges.
The two boards talk over ESP-NOW, not the home Wi-Fi. That keeps the link off the normal network and makes the pair easy to use somewhere else.