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Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →A tiny virtual pet that gets weaker the longer you stay seated is the idea behind the Chair Goblin Tamagotchi: an ESP32-based desk companion designed to nudge its maker out of an office chair. Its reported setup combines a Cheap Yellow Display (CYD), an mmWave presence sensor, Home Assistant, and ESPHome. The maker says the goblin’s decline and the prospect of seeing it evolve helped prompt breaks—but this is a personal account, not a measured health intervention.
How the Chair Goblin works
The game turns desk time into a simple consequence for a virtual pet. As the maker describes it, the goblin loses health while its owner remains in the chair, and its appearance changes as that health falls. If it dies, the game starts over. The planned reward is an evolution after a full week of getting up and moving at least once per hour. These rules and visual changes are reported by the project’s author; detailed thresholds and firmware behavior are not published. Project account
The maker reports that watching the character grow frail—and wanting to see its evolution—encouraged them to take breaks. That is an anecdotal experience, not evidence of a general or clinical benefit.
How the hardware and software fit together
The project can be understood as three connected layers: a sensor detects presence near the chair, Home Assistant and ESPHome pass that state along, and the CYD displays the pet and its game state. The project account describes this overall arrangement but does not provide the exact automations, ESPHome YAML, wiring, or timing logic needed to reproduce it exactly. The maker says Codex generated the ESPHome YAML, but the configuration itself is not published. Project account
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- Detect chair-zone presence. An mmWave sensor monitors the area around the office chair. The project account does not identify the sensor model or establish how accurately it distinguishes the chair from other occupied areas. Project account
- Pass the state to the display. Home Assistant and ESPHome connect the presence information to the CYD. Home Assistant documents both automatic discovery and manual ESPHome device setup; manual setup includes the device host and native API encryption settings. Home Assistant ESPHome integration
- Show the game state. The CYD provides the on-device display for the goblin. The project account does not identify the board revision or explain how presence state is converted into health, death, reset, or evolution. Project account
What you would need to check before building a similar device
Match ESPHome to the exact CYD board
“Cheap Yellow Display” is not enough to identify a board’s precise hardware. One separate Home Assistant and ESPHome project documents an ESP32-2432S028 example with a 2.8-inch ILI9341 display and XPT2046 resistive touch. Those specifications describe that example, not necessarily the Chair Goblin’s board or every CYD. CYD example configuration
Check the exact ESP32 variant, display size and controller, touch controller, USB connector, and whether a configuration exists for that board. ESPHome’s ESP32 platform documentation stresses that the configured variant must match the hardware; the original ESP32 platform supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, among other capabilities. ESPHome ESP32 platform
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Choose and position the presence sensor for the chair zone
The project does not name its mmWave sensor, so an exact parts list cannot be reconstructed from the account. ESPHome documents support for the HI-LINK LD2410, which is one option to investigate—not confirmation that the maker used it. ESPHome LD2410 component
For a similar build, consider whether the selected sensor has an ESPHome integration and whether its detection zone and range can be configured for the chair’s location. Mounting and room layout matter: a sensor needs to represent the chair area rather than simply report that somebody is somewhere in the room. The project account provides no sensor accuracy measurements or room-layout guidance, so performance should be checked in the intended space rather than assumed. Project account
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What is—and is not—documented
The project is a useful example of combining presence sensing with a small on-device game, but the account is not a step-by-step build guide. It does not specify the exact CYD revision, sensor model, bill of materials, wiring, power requirements, health-decay intervals, death and reset logic, or full-week streak implementation. It also does not publish the ESPHome YAML or report a tested replication. Treat those as open design decisions if you want to make your own version, rather than filling them in as though they were established parts of the original.
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