Zoom Escaper to the rescue from boring calls
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A free web widget in Google chrome called Zoom Escaper can be an escape-card from Zoom meetings and other videoconferencing setups. The widget enables a user to interrupt an audio-video call with everyday irksome noises as audio effects, making it intolerable for participants in a meeting.
The noise stream includes natural sounds such as crying baby, a barking dog, choppy audio, construction noises, echo sounds and more.
Developed by artist Sam Lavigne, Zoom Escaper can be accessed with VB-Cable. To use the widget in Zoom, the user has to set the microphone to VB-Cable. It can also be switched off in Zoom's microphone settings. However, the user cannot hear the self-applied audio effects in the Zoom call.
"I've been thinking about how sabotage might work in a digital context, especially one where the means of production are also personal devices that mediate your social life," said Lavigne.
He has also developed Zoom Deleter, which is a small programme in the menu bar that immediately deletes Zoom in the computer if found.
