OpenAI’s engineers whipped up a physical AI assistant that talks in light and sound, uses your phone as its brain and costs less than a smart bulb. Reflect might not be a product yet, but its whimsical demo is blowing up among makers.
Tired of screens? OpenAI’s hackathon team built Reflect, a palm‑sized AI assistant that communicates through light, color and simple sounds instead of a display. Reflect pairs with your phone to act as your calendar buddy, study coach and ambient DJ, reminding you about tomorrow’s test or playing lofi while you work. The project, shared on GitHub and trending in maker communities, shows that AI assistants don’t need to be disembodied voices – they can be physical, playful companions.
Hardware and design
Reflect was prototyped on the M5Stack CoreS3 ESP32S3 IoT board and uses LIFX smart bulbs for lighting. The hackathon team wanted a device that’s easy to assemble and modify, so the design is intentionally modular: the microcontroller handles logic, while lights and speakers create ambience. Because the device has no onboard state, your phone acts as the brain and key – all personal data lives on your phone, so you can pick it up and leave without fear of data leaks. The team also built location awareness; Reflect behaves differently in your kitchen than in your office.
Features: audio, light and context
Non‑screen communication – Reflect uses sound, colored light and vibration to convey information, creating a less distracting experience.
Phone as key – The device stores no user state. It unlocks when your phone is nearby.
Daily reflection and preparation – Ask Reflect what happened yesterday or what’s on your agenda tomorrow.
Focus and flow – It can play music while you study and answer quick questions.
Location awareness – The assistant can adapt its behavior based on where you place it.
Hackable and affordable – The team wanted something anyone could tinker with. The GitHub repo includes instructions for flashing the firmware onto the ESP32 board using the
esp‑idftoolkit. Once flashed, Reflect creates its own Wi‑Fi access point namedreflect; you join the network and open a local web page to interact.
Why people are excited
Reflect taps into nostalgia for tactile gadgets while showcasing what generative AI can do beyond chatbots. It’s easy to imagine customized versions: an AI lamp that guides meditation or a kitchen assistant that glows when your soup is ready. Because the project is open‑source, makers can fork the repository, swap in different lights or microcontrollers and even integrate other AI models. Its minimalistic interaction model also appeals to parents who want screen‑free technology for children.
Limitations and future possibilities
OpenAI emphasizes that Reflect is a hackathon experiment with no warranty or support. The current version works only with a specific ESP32 board and one brand of smart bulb. Expanding device support and adding voice input could be next steps. Because the assistant relies on your phone for processing, it doesn’t function as a standalone smart speaker, but this trade‑off reduces cost and complexity. The project also hints at how future AI hardware might blend ambient computing with privacy: by offloading state to personal devices, you keep control of your data.
FAQs
Is Reflect an official OpenAI product? No. It was built during an internal hackathon and released “as‑is” without warranties.
How do I build one? Follow the README: install the esp‑idf SDK, flash the firmware to an M5Stack CoreS3, then connect to the reflect Wi‑Fi network and interact via a local web page.
Can I add my own lights or sensors? Yes. The project is designed to be modified; the team encourages experimentation.
Does it work without a phone? Not currently. The phone stores your data and acts as a key
