Monitor and control systems with rings and layers.

Pulse shows each system as a circular object with layers for its readings and controls. A thermostat, for example, has a temperature dial in front and its mode and fan controls behind it. Drag the ring to adjust the temperature, or tap another layer to use it. When an alert appears, its layer moves to the front until it is resolved.

Why it is round Build your own

The board of a home: the pulse in the center, seven systems around it, one of them calling in amber

How the layers work

The front layer shows the reading and controls you are using. The rings behind it keep other channels visible, and you can tap one to bring it forward.

What is active
The front layer is the one you read and use. Its face holds the value; its ring holds the control.
What is urgent
An alert raises its layer and colors only what fails: a segment, a band, a label. Never the disc.
Where you are
Zoom in to use a system, then zoom out to see the board again.

From the board to a single reading

The board as one object: each system a layer, named front to back on the left — The board in layers view. Systems are ordered by urgency, with their names listed on the left.

The climate system: a temperature dial in front, the mode and a fan behind — The climate system. Drag the front ring to adjust the thermostat.

A battery alert in front, in amber, with its action under the object — A battery alert moves to the front, with an action below it.

The detail of a humidity sensor: the last 24 hours as a ring — The detail view adds information, such as the last 24 hours of humidity readings.

When several things need attention

Pulse orders alerts by urgency and draws only a few layers at a time. The other channels remain accessible by name. Color, a heavier ring and a wave mark the part that needs attention; systems without alerts stay in the background.

Read about the design decisions and alert behavior in Why.

Sources

Pulse is a core: a host hands it systems and readings, and the object does the rest. Home Assistant is one source, in its own repository; a machine, the world's calamities, a boat, a fleet, a swarm of drones, the sky, the space station and a city's cameras are others on the same core.

Built on two small libraries

The rings, the arcs and the layers in depth are Orbit, a CSS layout system for things that grow around a center. The zoom between the board, a system and its detail is Zumly. Pulse uses them to display readings, handle controls and bring alerts forward.

Pulse is open source, MIT. Made by ZumerLab. Source on GitHub.