How to Integrate Webex Status Indication with Philips Hue

Usually, the following happens…

• Son (opens the office door): “Dad! where is my Power Rangers Dino Charge Beast Saber Sword?”
• Daughter (opens the office door): “Dad, where is the phone charger?“.
• Wife (very softly opens the office door): “Just a quick question… can you pick up the kids later today?“.
• Mother-in-law when visiting (opens the office door): “What is the issue with the water pressure??” (BTW, there is no issue with the water pressure…).

Yes, I did ask them (many times) to be more mindful/considerable and check if I’m on a call before approaching these super-important questions.

Then I asked my son the following:

• Me: “Buddy, you see that I’m working and on a video call. Can you wait a bit with your question?“.
• Son: “But dad! I didn’t know that you were in a meeting with the video on…“.

Well, he is right. He didn’t know that I was on a video call. So… How can I “better educate” my family to know when I’m on a call and prefer not to be disturbed?

My options:

1. Ask again (and again) – I will do that, but I need something more immediate…
2. Use some physical indication every time I’m in a meeting (see 👉) – That wouldn’t scale…
3. Relocate my office space – Then I’ll be far away from the refrigerator 😉
4. Leverage & integrate different technologies – Yes! 👍

The Plan 

Let’s integrate Webex (status indication) with Philips Hue! That way, they will know (see! 👀) my availability status!

• Green == Available.
• Blue == On a call.
• Orange== On a Webex meeting with video OFF.
• Red== On a Webex meeting with video ON.
• Yellow == Asking for quiet time (DoNotDisturb).

Cisco Webex and Philips Hue expose their APIs

As both Webex and Philips Hue expose their APIs, that shouldn’t be complicated. Right?

importrequests
from phue import Bridge
from threading import Thread
from time import sleep
import subprocess

# Webex variables
myID = "xxx"
url = "https://webexapis.com/v1/people/" + myID
token = "xxx"
​
# pHue variables
bridgeIpAddress = 'x.x.x.x'

def access_lights(bridgeIpAddress):
    b = Bridge(bridgeIpAddress)
#    b.connect()
light_names = b.get_light_objects('name')
return light_names

Step #4 – Define the five availability options/functions.

• The functions are applicable for the “Office Lightstrip” (you can configure a group of lights as well).
• on/off – On/Off state of the light.
• hue – The hue value to set light to (The hue value is a wrapping value between 0 and 65535).
• saturation – Saturation of the light (254 is the most saturated, colored, and 0 is the least saturated, white).
• brightness – The brightness value to set the light to (Brightness is a scale from 1, the minimum the light is capable of, to 254, the maximum).

def active():
    lights = access_lights(bridgeIpAddress)
    for light in ['Office Lightstrip']:
        lights[light].on = True
        lights[light].hue = 25500 # Green
        lights[light].saturation = 254
        lights[light].brightness = 254
​
def call():
    lights = access_lights(bridgeIpAddress)
    for light in ['Office Lightstrip']:
        lights[light].on = True
        lights[light].hue = 46920 # Blue
        lights[light].saturation = 254
        lights[light].brightness = 254
​
def meeting_without_video():
    lights = access_lights(bridgeIpAddress)
    for light in ['Office Lightstrip']:
        lights[light].on = True
        lights[light].hue = 7000 # Orange
        lights[light].saturation = 254
        lights[light].brightness = 254
​
def meeting_with_video():
    lights = access_lights(bridgeIpAddress)
    for light in ['Office Lightstrip']:
        lights[light].on = True
        lights[light].hue = 65535 # Red
        lights[light].saturation = 254
        lights[light].brightness = 254
​
def DoNotDisturb():
    lights = access_lights(bridgeIpAddress)
    for light in ['Office Lightstrip']:
        lights[light].on = True
        lights[light].hue = 12750 # Yellow
        lights[light].saturation = 254
        lights[light].brightness = 254

Step #5 – Define the function to check if the is video is on/off.

• The creation of the “output.txt” file was needed as I was unable to (really) tail the “log stream” process/output (the “output.txt” file stores the video status information, which is used in step 6). If you have a suggestion for a better approach, let me know!
• the full (unparsed) “log stream” command is: “log stream –info –debug –predicate ‘(process == “VDCAssistant”) and (eventMessage contains “Post event kCameraStream”)’”  Learn more about the “log stream” command).