Shop Clock

Our studio needs a new clock. I began by researching the history of time keeping devices, a fascinating rabbit hole to go down if you ever have the time. Today, time is almost always displayed with just numbers. I especially admired the different ways time was able to be displayed. Egyptians created water clocks.

In medieval times they used candles.

I loved exploring different ways time could be represented. Each of these clocks evokes a different feeling from the viewer.

I also listened to a Podcast about a man who was a master antique clock engineer which turned out to be one of the most fascinating stories I have ever listened to. I highly recommend it.

Our program is only one year long. Packing an entire masters program about emerging technologies and industries into one year makes for a very busy schedule. The amount of knowledge we have been exposed to can be intimidating at times because each week we are introduced to a world of skills that could be made into their own year long courses.

I wanted my clock to make people think. In a one year program like this, time can slip away quickly as each project requires a lot of focus and time. Everyone is passionate about learning the vast number of skills we are shown, and sometimes is hard to find a balance between learning the tools and creating something meaningful in just a week. We are in the second month of our year long program and the days accelerating exponentially. All of sudden it will all be over. I felt this way in college. On May 10 at 8:30am we will be walking across the stage at Coors Event Center and we will all be faced with the question of what we are doing next.

I began sketching different ways I could display a clock representing the time we have left in this program.

I wanted to create a simple clock that reminds students not just of the current time but of our position in terms of the program, and graduation. For me, seeing the amount of days left in the program broadens perspective. It forces reflection (hopefully) about our time here. I want it to make people think outside of their project cycles and consider what they want to achieve before the program ends.

I had the privilege of visiting the Museum of Emerging Science and Technology this summer in Tokyo, Japan. There, I was introduced to a philosophy called “backwards thinking”, which is a problem solving method by envisioning where you want to be at the end of a goal and then work backwards by imagining obstacles and seeking supporting logic.

I thought that a countdown timer from graduation would be a nice way to display time in the shop. It’s a reminder that our time here is short, and to make the most of every day. To remind ourselves to think outside our project cycle and to think about who and where we want to be when that timer gets down to 0.

I wanted to also include other countdowns to significant events in our program such as the end of the semester or other things like breaks, and events. For now my processing ability limited me to just trying to get the days to countdown.

Processing is a very challenging program for me because I have trouble translating the thoughts in my head to logic that the computer can understand. I spent a lot of this project learning about the different types variables, naming them, and if loops. I spent a lot of notebook real estate writing out exactly what I wanted to accomplish, and then even more time translating those statements of logic to code.

It was very challenging for me to find equations using minute() hour() and day() to countdown from a specific date, but after some help from professors and classmates I now have a better understanding of the many different ways there are to accomplish the same thing in coding. I look forward to iterating on this clock as I improve my skills with Java.

Here is the video of my clock.

Countdown from Matt Isola on Vimeo.

I kept the design of the clock minimal because wanted the focus to the on the data that it was showing. Mainly the number of days until the program is over contrasted with the current time. I hope the minimal design makes it more thought provoking for now, as I look to improve this clock and my overall ability with the Java.

What I learned

• Basics of processing syntax.
• How to create a timer using an if statement
• How to create, define, and use different types variables.
• How to create a String
• How to use and declare fonts
• How to align text and position objects on a sketch

Here is the link to my code on Github.