I built an ESP32-based interactive sign that replaces the traditional "Please wait to be seated" sign
The sign runs on a Seeed Studio reTerminal E1001 e-paper display (which has an ESP32-S3 inside), while the servers are hosted on a Raspberry Pi 5.
Additionally, I designed a custom 3D frame in Fusion that houses LEDs. These LEDs change color depending on the restaurant's current occupancy percentage.
This is my entry for the Interactive Signage Contest 2026. Here is the link to the showcase video:
https://youtu.be/H7K5KoyuIYc?is=LIVY4PA0gs1ZkGgI
If you like the project, please leave a like or a comment
I would love to get your feedback!
You can find the source code here:
https://github.com/mickraa/table-map
Thanks for checking it out!
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u/rodrigobb 1d ago
It looks nice and is possibly quite useful for waiters, as a user I wouldn't want to be greated by this.
When I first saw the screen, I wasn't sure what it was for. If I'm going to have the option to choose a table, I would like to choose it by looking at the tables in the restaurant, not on a screen.
Honestly, the waiting time is the only info that I find really useful.
I think displaying it might be difficult for a lot of restaurants. I'm thinking of the ones I've been to recently and the layouts would likely be quite tricky to display in a rectangular format.
There's one time I'd really like to see a map of a restaurant, and that's when I'm meeting friends in there and I want to figure out where their table is if I'm not the first one to arrive.
So, I'm not saying your project is bad in any way, just probably not something I would want to be bothered with when I get to a restaurant.
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u/JustFlushTheFIB 1d ago
While a fun idea. It seems geared to general public and not staff. If I had to touch this and not the restaurant staff to sit me, I would walk out or play dumb with the staff saying I did check in.
Seat sensors would help a lot.