It’s the festive season! So I made this interactive tree to brighten and cheer up to my desk. It senses that I’m there, reacts when I talk to it (I like to think so, but in reality it reacts to any loud enough noise) and switches off when I leave.

There is much more to it than being a pretty ornament: it showcases how BrainBuilder supports the use of multiple timers. No less than five independent timers are in use here.

This is how to build it.

My first BrainBuilder project was inspired by an assignment from a few years ago.

People were always walking around to check every office, looking for an available workplace. It would be really convenient if they would be able to see which desks were free, on a display in the lobby.

After all, it’s simply a matter of detecting whether or not people are sitting at desks.

Or so you would think.