HawtP0tat0Feb 12, 2025
Viss

uhhhhhhhhh
so... i have a home assistant install with me for my demo.

it lives on a raspi. which has bluetooth onboard.

someone at con brought a bluetooth toothbrush. and home assistant found it. and i added it.

soo... now im tracking a bluetooth toothbrush at a security con.

Feb 12, 2025 at 8:34amTusky
Show threadVissFeb 12, 2025

sooooo
these toothbrushes publish rssi.

.. and im graphing it now

Show threadVissFeb 12, 2025
it.. publishes via btle that the user went into the settings menu?
Show threadVissFeb 12, 2025

so heres the oral-b site for these things:

https://oralb.com/en-us/products/electric-toothbrushes/oral-b-io-series-9-rechargeable-electric-toothbrush-black-onyx/

Oral-B iO Series 9 Rechargeable Electric Toothbrush, Black Onyx

The Oral-B's iO Series 9 utilizes powerful, but gentle micro-vibrating bristles. Experience the WOW of a professional clean feel at home.

Oral-B
Show threadVissFeb 13, 2025

hackcon day 2:

a third toothbrush has arrived.

I have added it to the tracking card, watching its rssi

Show threadVissFeb 13, 2025
and then there were four
Show threadVissFeb 13, 2025

... and now there are five.

and ive had to switch to apex charts, because the built in HA ones dont handle 5 items on one chart well in the legend

Show threadBillFeb 13, 2025
@Viss Are attendees practicing good dental hygiene? We expect a full report.
Show threadFritz AdalisFeb 13, 2025
@Sempf @Viss
Can it tell who has [picard voice] the gum disease GINGIVITIS?
Show threadApicultor 🐝Feb 13, 2025

@FritzAdalis I HEARD HIS VOICE 🥹

@Sempf @Viss

Show threadsynthBirbaFeb 13, 2025
@Viss I'm following this story more than Italians are following Sanremo now
Show threadcaraneaFeb 13, 2025
@Viss
Actually bought an Oral-b IO toothbrush recently... Thankfully you can use it just fine without ever installing the app and connecting it to your phone, otherwise wouldn't have bought it. After all, it's a frigging electric toothbrush and has absolutely no reason to connect to anything other than power for charging. The silly trend of making everything "smart" and slapping "AI" on the packaging is seriously annoying.
Show threadVissFeb 13, 2025
@caranea im not sure this has anything to do with its app, necessarily, because its the toothbrush itself thats spraying btle everywhere
Show threadcaraneaFeb 13, 2025
@Viss
Hm. Will have a peek later. My understanding was that it at least shouldn't communicate a status if it was never activated in the first place.
Show threadVissFeb 13, 2025
@caranea i dont think there are three people at a security con brushing their teeth during presentations
Show threadcaraneaFeb 13, 2025
@Viss
That would be quite something... 😂
Should have been clearer. Meant that in terms of tracking and communicating the past and current status if it was never connected to anything. Assumption is that the folx at the conference use it with the app when brushing their teeth, so the toothbrush is looking out for the connection. This last part would likely not be 24/7, but only when it is activated (tilt sensor, so being jostled in a backpack is enough for it to think you're picking it up to brush your teeth).
Show threadVissFeb 13, 2025
@caranea im guessing folks just have these things in their backpacks and theyre getting jostled and buttons are getting pressed
Show threadcaraneaFeb 14, 2025
@Viss
Tested it last evening. Indeed it tries to connect any time the brush turns on (just the display, no need for the motor etc.). The tilt sensor actually seems to become more sensitive with the Bluetooth function turned on, leading to even slight jostling activating the brush, no button press necessary. You can deactivate Bluetooth on the brush though, which saves battery and stops the silliness (obviously not an option if you install and use the app).
Show threadVissFeb 14, 2025

@caranea heh, so yeah, we were assuming correctly. toothbrushes in backpacks just kicking around squirting btle all over the place.

the crowd really liked it though, i added several slides about WTF TOOTHBRUSHES to the end of my deck

Show threadthejikzFeb 12, 2025
@Viss tried sending a ping to get it to buzz yet?! LOL
Show threadVissFeb 12, 2025
@thejikz not sure its possible, sadly
Show threadthejikzFeb 12, 2025
@Viss well, not with that attitude, why can't it play doom yet?! bzzbzz. XD
still, real cool but weird thing.
Show threadVissFeb 12, 2025
@thejikz thats a good question, it does have a display!
Show threadTim PantonFeb 12, 2025

@Viss Silly story time...
A _long_ time ago at a devcon I mentioned how stupid some IoT was and said that it would be fun to hack on but that they were too expensive for a joke...

Unfortunately the guy sitting next to me organised a whip round and $100 later I was kinda committed to hacking on a toothbrush.

In the end I tied it to voicemail so that it said "Mr Panton is brushing his teeth right now, but will be available to take your call in 97 seconds". There may be a video somewhere.

Show threadTim PantonFeb 12, 2025
@Viss If I remember right, @jcolp was the instigator of the whip-round .
Show threadJoshua C. Colp 🇨🇦 🚴 🏃 🚣‍♂️Feb 12, 2025
@steely_glint @Viss Kicker is, it was funded before it even got to me. :P
Show threadCat 🐈🥗 (D.Burch) ⁠Feb 12, 2025
@Viss *Toothbrush Noises* I'm in...
Show threadVissFeb 12, 2025
@catsalad *bzzzzzzzzzzzz*
Show threadzl2todFeb 12, 2025

@Viss

For bystanders: RSSI is Received Signal Strength Indication

Show threadTrammell HudsonFeb 12, 2025
@Viss dashboard all the things! This is a workout on our rowing machine.
Show threadVissFeb 12, 2025
@th hah, beefcake grafana mode!
Show threadTim Ward ⭐🇪🇺🔶 #FBPEFeb 12, 2025
@Viss #HomeAssistant is rather good at picking up anything and everything that anybody brings within radio range, isn't it. Weird stuff tends to show up here whenever the kids visit.
Show threadFelichsFeb 12, 2025
@Viss
Thankfully the base models don't have any of that nonsense, but still do the thing you actually bought them for...
Show threadDarkRatFeb 12, 2025

@Viss

Brushing Mode: I N T E N S E

Show threadGallen 🔜 LIFC, EFFeb 12, 2025
@Viss
Whelp guess my toothbrush needs a Faraday cage...
Show threadRobin Syl 🌸 Feb 12, 2025
@Viss so...are you reminding them to brush their teeth?
Show threadVissFeb 12, 2025
@robinsyl i wil be :D
Show threadFrost, wolf of winter 🐺🎄Feb 12, 2025
@Viss Brushing mode: INTENSE
Show threadMartin HamiltonFeb 12, 2025
@Viss "You're my toothbrush now!" <evil laughter>
Show threadTim LavoieFeb 12, 2025
@Viss Weirder still maybe, is why is this thing on? Can you do anything with it?
Show threadVissFeb 12, 2025
@tim_lavoie im sure ill find out more tomorrow at the con, but so far ive discovered that because these things will let me get rssi data out, i can track their proximity to my home assistant install, and ive even made a graph - so in theory i can do some light sigint work by way of ... toothbrush radio signals
Show threadRossMadnessFeb 14, 2025
@Viss This has quickly become one of my favorite threads on here.
Show threadLambdaJun 27, 2025
@Viss why does a toothbrush need bluetooth? Aren't toothbrushes by themselves enough land field without adding a chip and a lithium battery?
Show threadVissJun 27, 2025
@Lamb ask oral-b :D
Show threadLambdaJun 27, 2025
@Viss how long 'till we get the first "AI powered" toothbrush?
Show threadVissJun 27, 2025

@Lamb they have that already

https://www.oralb.co.uk/en-gb/product-collections/genius-x

Power of AI with Genius X Electric Toothbrush | Oral-B

The Oral-B Genius X Electric Toothbrush powered by artificial intelligence recognizes your brushing style and guides you to a superior clean and healthier gums.

Show threadLambdaJun 27, 2025
@Viss My God...
I hate the future
Show threadVissJun 27, 2025
@Lamb yup. its incredibly stupid here
Show threadMiakoda Jun 27, 2025
@Viss And here I am struggling to figure out how to use ANY sort of BT device I can stuff in my bag as a way to determine if I'm home or not
Show threadVissJun 27, 2025
@hellomiakoda home assistant can do that for you! its called 'presence detection' and its built into the platform by design! you can also do it at the network level if youre running a unifi network, because HA can talk to unifi as well, and it can straight up tell 'is my phone on the network'. and from there you can write automations! :D
Show threadMiakoda Jun 27, 2025

@Viss Yeah, I know. I was using "is my phone on the network" and found it kept falsely triggering that I'm away.

One of the few things I miss from my Android phone was the HA app telling my server where I am with GPS.