A wall clock with an extra set of hands
A mechanical clock that shows the real time next to the current
You rarely really need to know the time. Rather, you need the consequence of what the time is.
It’s not 6am, it’s time to get up.
It’s not 1am, it’s time to go to bed.
It’s not 7:15 it’s time to leave for work if you want to be there by 9.
The sped up video above shows 24 hours in the life of the quadruple-handed clock.
It’s not 6am, it’s time to get up. It’s not 1am, it’s time to go to bed. It’s not 7:15 it’s time to leave for work if you want to be there by 9. You rarely really need to know the time. Rather, you need the consequence of what the time is.
A really simple application of this principle could be an expanded wall clock that isn’t online or even digital. It could be as simple as having four hands instead of two.
During the day, the secondary set of hands could rest on top of the normal black hands, or maybe below them, invisibly. Everything could be done mechanically, and controlled from the normal electric clockwork that sits on the back. This could probably keep the price around 20 dollars, which is the double of many wall clocks at IKEA.
At night, the secondary set of hands will appear, showing you you when to wake up in order to get a configurable amount of hours of sleep.
The back side of the clock has a few controls. Setting the time, setting the estimated commute time, setting the commute interval, and a setting for how many hours you prefer to sleep.
The family version has up to eight hands, but thanks to the extremely simple clockwork, the low price might tempt some families to just buy multiple clocks for the various rooms.
Optionally going online
The wall clock is completely offline, but maybe an expansion kit could bring it online. Plug in, connect it to your wifi and pair with the clock. The device communicates with the clock via Bluetooth Low Energy to let it live on its batteries for a year. The box would tell the clock about current weather conditions, weather forecasts, public transport delays, and maybe even count down to events in your calendar, and use the red hands to show when to leave.
