Project #3 Experimental Clock
Description
For my third project, I am exploring and developing an experimental clock that can function in ways that ordinary clocks cannot, while still having the features of conventional clocks, which marks time according to a 24 hour cycle. It is either subjective, personal, or even irrational organization. In order to complete this assignment, it is needed to think of time expansively and alternatively, moving beyond conventional time keeping units. Also, the way to passage of tune and time that is not driven by standard time-keeping units.
Design Process
When thinking about time, we think about all different kinds of clock, sand-clock, watch, clock on the phone and so on, so when I was brainstorming different ways of tracking time, I actually started with the first idea I have, sand-clock, I want to do something with the sand clock and was trying to show a path of time through that. Down below is my first sketch using the pseudo code as well. But It stopped because I kind of stuck in what I should do next and how to fit the “sand” in representing passing time.
Then, I started to follow the tutorials that Xin showed, trying to mimic a clock using arcs. I passed on this one as well because I don’t feel like this would be a strong idea for showing “experimental” and too standardized as well.
For my third try for designing this clock, I started following the idea that I want to show, is the path of time. Time is untraceable but it will always leave a mark or a clue for you, leading you to the space of infinite imagination and connecting the memory of the past as well as the vision of the future. I would like to show that in my design, and that is where I started, I tried on several different elements to see if I like them, and then I decided to explore more on this third try.
Reflection
As I mentioned in my design process, I would like to show the trace of time and let time be “traceable” and “visible” for us to actually see it while making it functional. Every three dots is a group, representing hour, minute and second. And each group has three dots, also representing and reminding you of hour, minute and second. When they moving in circles, they are leaving their paths for us to track. When you press the mouse, you will see the milliseconds of the clock, when you release the mouse, you can see what time is it now, which is more of a functional purpose. I also included map function in the background to show the day and night. From my perspective, I appreciate the opportunity for me to rethink and regroup time as a whole, thinking about different ways of marking the passage of time and leaving standard time-keeping units alone, trying to explore more into more subjective and personal content when designing. It is more about a chance to think about time itself, but not the actual object that tells time.