Pilot light for a laptop mic

Projects General Guidance
1

Hello!

Nowadays it is very common to use Teams or Zoom for meetings. So, sometimes I forgot to turn off the mic while on a video call and it could become a disaster if I say something that are not supposed to be heard...

So, i was thinking about building a red/green light, USB-interfaced in order to know when the mic is on/off.
I guess I'll need some program to become the interface between an Arduino and Windows.

I would be great if somebody has any ideas or suggestion where I could start...
The constraints of the project: it must be a USB device, due to I cannot open or modify my company's laptop...

Thanks!

2

What do you intend to do about the PC software end of the project?

Paul

3

Headset with microphone mute switch? But will a switch or a flashing LED help if you are prone to forgetting?

Best advice is to avoid saying things that you don't want third parties to hear when anywhere near any modern technology. straightens tinfoil hat

4

The industry term is "tally light" - may be useful for Google searches.

5

If you have a USB mic you can power an LED from the 5V power. Analog mic ports also put-out 5V to power electret condenser mics. The analog port might have limited current so you might have to use a higher than usual series resistor and sacrifice some brightness.

In both cases you can either unplug the mic or wire-in a power switch.

You can buy blinking LEDs. I used once used a blinking LED for a similar purpose in a DJ setup to make it obvious which CD player was actively playing.

6

My old HP laptop has both a mike by the camera and a mike port on the side. My newer HP lap top only has the built-in mike.

What does the laptop that the OP has for mike connections?

Paul

7

cesar8k:
So, i was thinking about building a red/green light, USB-interfaced in order to know when the mic is on/off.
I guess I'll need some program to become the interface between an Arduino and Windows.

Since you would need a PC application of some sort, to detect when the mic (directly on your PC or USB connected) was active and the ability to write that program, would it not be easier to have the PC application warn you with LED images on the screen or taskbar as to the mic status ?

Perhaps the bigger problem is how does the PC application 'know' the mic is on ?

By far the simplest way of dealing with this possible problem is to hack one of those real cheap £1 USB 'sound cards' with a switch and some wires which both disconnects the microphone circuit and turns an LED on\off.

No need for an Arduino at all. Wires and switches dont need code.

8

After giving this more thought, and not being told what operating system he is using, the simplest PC program would have a list of programs that he runs that use the microphone. Then the PC program could periodically ask the operating system for a list of the current running programs and if one matches the list, then the mike is in use, otherwise it is not in use.

Paul

9

Thanks for your answers!

I found this program: MicMute that has the ability to control the mic with a keyboard shortcut:

So, I'm going to try to configure the Arduino Uno as an USB HID device to send a keyboard shortcut when I press a button connected to the Arduino and power on a LED as this example:

Hope it works!