For many of us the world of video conferencing has kept us employed, in touch with the outside world and connected to our work colleagues and friends. But for some of us the effect of back to back virtual meetings, online quizzes and birthday get togethers has left us totally drained.

Whether it’s the millisecond audio delays, background distractions, technical / internet issues or any number of other factors attributed to what is now know as Zoom fatigue, the effects of this new condition are evident.

Taking matters into his own hands, artist and data educator Sam Lavigne has produced Zoom Escaper, a neat little web app that let’s you overlay an array of fake noises and sound effects into your Zoom call affording you countless reasons to escape your meeting.

You can choose from an array of background noises which cover traditional sounds like crying babies, annoying echos and barking dogs, to the more unconventional such as people taking a leak, crying adults and more.

In Sam’s words, “Zoom Escaper is a tool to help you escape Zoom meetings and other videoconferencing scenarios. It allows you to self-sabotage your audio stream, making your presence unbearable to others.”

To get it working all you need do is download a free bit of audio software called VB-Audio that diverts your audio through the website, then change your audio input in Zoom from your microphone to VB-Audio, and play with the effects. Tutorial below…