Abstract: This disclosure proposes systems and methods to perform audio based projector control by a projector device to detect that a user is close to a projector and disable the projector when certain conditions are detected. The projector device may detect the user by performing voice activity detection (VAD) and/or breathing activity detection (BAD) on reference audio data generated by a reference microphone by the projector. In some examples, the projector device may determine that the user is located near the projector by performing beamforming on input audio data and/or comparing a first signal strength of the reference audio data to a second signal strength of the input audio data. The projector device may also implement two level device peripheral control architecture to provide additional safeguards to ensure that control mechanisms are in place even if a central processing unit (CPU) stops operating normally.