Zoom Escaper is a plug-in to get you out of videoconferences

After a year of working from home, many of us are tired of the endless videoconferences. We now have an excuse to come out of those conference calls with a new tool called Zoom Escaper.

Digital artist Sam Lavigne created the amazingly simple web app, first reported by The edge. All you gotta do is install an audio plug-in called VB-Audio of the product Web page, so make sure you have selected the correct audio devices, then open Zoom as usual. Of the, you can play a collection of sound effects in Zoom designed to irritate or annoy your coworkers, seemingly to the point where your coworkers will ask you to leave the video call.

Some of the sound effects are a bit simpler than others. Clips of a crying baby and active building seem the safest.way out of a video conference, while the bad connection sound quite realistically mimics the choppy sound that people might hear if your internet is weak.

But other effects, like a crying man or the sound of urination, might raise more questions from your coworkers than a sympathetic encouragement to log out, and if used at an inconvenient time, can send you instead of HR. Fortunately, in case none of Zoom Escaper’s preset clips have the desired effect, you can also manually upload your own sound clips.. After all, the more you tailor the sound effects to your specific situation, the more believable your excuse becomes.

And while Zoom Escaper surely can’t be used to get out of every videoconferencing for the foreseeable future, it could be a handy tool for calls where you can no longer handle inanity.

But for me, the most impressive thing about Lavigne’s work is his dedication to reducing Zoom in a quest for a better work / life balance. IIn addition to Zoom Escaper, Lavigne also did Slow hot computer and Zoom suppressor, the latter regularly checks your computer to see if Zoom is installed, and nuclear weapon if Zoom is detected.

Lavigne told The Verge that some of the fundamentals of his art are “deliberate slowing down, reducing productivity and production, and self-sabotage.” IAt a time when the boundaries between home and professional life have been fundamentally blurred, these are philosophies that almost anyone can appreciate.