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Wobbly clock

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Re: Wobbly clock

#111

Post by rikroots »

twright wrote: post #69

This is great, would love it on my wrist! I think digitally making analog clocks is a really fun exercise in design. Basically asking "how far can I stretch this concept without breaking it?" I've made a small CodePen collection of such experiments: https://codepen.io/collection/AQawkJ

Those are some enjoyable experiments!

I've always found the clock faces more fascinating than the mechanisms driving the hands around. I'm easily distracted. My CodePen kaleidoscope clock's here: https://codepen.io/kaliedarik/full/vYLaOxK

Re: Wobbly clock

#112

Post by jedberg »

drdaeman wrote: post #103
jedberg wrote: post #83

This clock is great for teaching kids how to tell time! When learning to read a "circle clock", they have a heck of a time understanding what it means when the hour hand is almost but not quite pointing at a number. So when it's 3:45 they will say 4:45 because they know the big hand on 9 means "45" but they get confused because the little hand is almost pointing at 4. This clock solves that problem. Anyone know if I…

If my presumption that analog watchfaces are dying and only used for "classical" looks (as evidenced by all those trendy "artistic" watchfaces that frequently don't even have marks), then I suspect it'll be another lie of a generation, just like I've been told to learn how to do math in my head because "there won't be any calculators around". I mean, analog watchfaces are bad at telling precise time - it's just that…

Analogue clocks are helpful in low visibility situations. I have one in my bathroom because when I first wake up my vision is too blurry to see the clock, but I can see where the hands are and know what time it is. They are also handy when the clock needs to be far away, like outside in the yard. You can read an analog clock from much farther away than a digital clock because you just need to make out the general positions of the hands.

Also, it's a great way to teach kids multiples of five and fractions. :)

Re: Wobbly clock

#113

Post by Nevermark »

Ugh, I just missed the hourly transition I was waiting for, while browsing elsewhere. Now I have to watch without blinking for the next 55 minutes.

(If I blink I will get distracted!)

Funny how little art projects like this are so intriguing.

Re: Wobbly clock

#115

Post by jimmydddd »

jedberg wrote: post #81
agys wrote: post #39

Made me think about the Swiss Railways clock that has the second hand completing the circle in 58.5 seconds; all the clocks on the network then wait for the sync signal from the “master clock". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_railway_clock

The clocks in my elementary, middle, and high schools would do something similar. Not every minute, but every hour. At the top of the hour, when there was 15 seconds left, the second hand would make 3 second jumps until it hit the top, and then hold until the next hour started. I always thought that was a brilliant way to keep mechanical clocks in sync. And the system had been there since the 1970s, so it was well be…

Thanks for that. We had those as well. But third-grade me never really thought about the purpose. So it's fun to think about it now.

In contrast, I'll sometimes now walk into a lobby or reception area of a business where they will have like five different analog clocks on the wall representing NY, Paris, London, etc, (trying to look "international" I guess) and the minute hands are out of sync. Kind of sad in 2023. :-)

Re: Wobbly clock

#116

Post by berkes »

drdaeman wrote: post #103
jedberg wrote: post #83

This clock is great for teaching kids how to tell time! When learning to read a "circle clock", they have a heck of a time understanding what it means when the hour hand is almost but not quite pointing at a number. So when it's 3:45 they will say 4:45 because they know the big hand on 9 means "45" but they get confused because the little hand is almost pointing at 4. This clock solves that problem. Anyone know if I…

If my presumption that analog watchfaces are dying and only used for "classical" looks (as evidenced by all those trendy "artistic" watchfaces that frequently don't even have marks), then I suspect it'll be another lie of a generation, just like I've been told to learn how to do math in my head because "there won't be any calculators around". I mean, analog watchfaces are bad at telling precise time - it's just that…

While analog watches aren't as precise, they are faster. It takes most people less time to process, as humans (apparently)[1] can interpret an image faster than numbers.

For example, 189/304 vs [####__]; the latter is probably faster to process.

Also, not related to clocks, but analog gauges in particular: a number lacks an important vector of information: rate of change.

[1] https://books.google.nl/books?id=nrtUgKzFhJ4C&pg=SA7-PA16&lp...

Re: Wobbly clock

#117

Post by rpastuszak »

I love it! And I think that the idea of random intervals averaging to correct values mentioned below would make it beautifully irritating.

Not a clock, but I was messing with soft body physics and ended up with this thing this weekend: https://mrrr.vercel.app [1]

Consider a v2 where the hands are physically simulated al dente spaghetti.

[1] (I ended up making a classic frame-by-frame animation though: http://mrr.sonnet.io - pitching it as an "AI-powered MRR optimiser" on LN)

Re: Wobbly clock

#118

Post by mixmastamyk »

May be my imagination, but it seems the turning of the center pauses a bit after the end of the Second hand moves. Would expect the center to turn constantly.

Re: Wobbly clock

#119

Post by ipqk »

jimmydddd wrote: post #115
jedberg wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The clocks in my elementary, middle, and high schools would do something similar. Not every minute, but every hour. At the top of the hour, when there was 15 seconds left, the second hand would make 3 second jumps until it hit the top, and then hold until the next hour started. I always thought that was a brilliant way to keep mechanical clocks in sync. And the system had been there since the 1970s, so it was well be…

Thanks for that. We had those as well. But third-grade me never really thought about the purpose. So it's fun to think about it now. In contrast, I'll sometimes now walk into a lobby or reception area of a business where they will have like five different analog clocks on the wall representing NY, Paris, London, etc, (trying to look "international" I guess) and the minute hands are out of sync. Kind of sad in 2023. :…

My gym has about 15 different clocks on the walls, and they all tell a different time, some of them egregiously so. Every few months (often after I mention it), someone will go around and fix the worst ones.
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