LED Me Be: The Busy Bar Tells Your Coworkers You’re Tied Up

Have you ever been in an online meeting with your headphones on, and wished that your coworkers could read your mind and stop coming to your desk with questions? The team at Flipper Devices know this struggle all too well. They have developed the Busy Bar, an LED display panel that can be hung over your desktop computer or outside your office, displaying your status (for example, “on a call” or “busy”) with a countdown clock indicating your future availability.

But it’s more than an LED sign. The Busy Bar connects to your personal network via Wi-Fi or USB-C to automatically update when a meeting starts on your Zoom account or calendar. Users with smart home systems can set the Busy Bar to automatically lock their door or change the lighting when a meeting starts.

Not only does the Busy Bar indicate your availability to others, it can also help you stay on track with your own tasks. The Busy Bar can link to your phone to silence notifications or lock distracting applications. For $249, users can increase productivity using a device with far more functions than a handwritten “Do Not Disturb” sign.

Author: Joeley Pulver, 2024/2025 Articling Student-At-Law