PROTOTYPE 1
ENERGY VISUALIZING COLCK
This is about visualizing energy use. People use electrical appliances every day without knowing how much energy each device consumes. Electric meters are also usually hidden from view and meaningless to users. By collecting and transforming the data from electric meters remotely, the energy visualizing clock is part of an evolving research study which aims to
connect electrical appliance and human emotions by proposing a new language that is not only understood, but also felt. The more energy used, the faster the second hand spins, creating the illusion of time accelerating- an illusion which will make people feel anxious and rise the awareness of energy wast in the home.
SMART CLOCK MOVEMENT
I specifically designed an independent system for the second hand to move, so now the movement of the second hand won’t affect the movement of the minutes and hour hand. With this independent system, users can read both the time and the electricity using situation in the same clock.
In the future, all those component can be significantly minimised, and become a smart clock movement. People can simply replace the old clock movement with the new one even without change their original clock dial. So their interior will be as same as before, but now the clock tells more information.
PROTOTYPE 2
After tested the first version in the real using scenario, many feedback was gathered. People felt it is interesting in the first place, and getting bored afterwards. And for small current electric appliances like phone or laptop, the clock couldn’t response because the led on the meter body will take ages to flash. And even if the clock can response, people won’t tell the minor speed differences of the spinning second hand.
In order to response to those problems, I develop the second prototype. I use CT sensor to measure the current inside of the meter cable. With this sensor, I can get the energy data more instantly and accurately. With the help of the accurate and instant data, I turn the second hand into an indicator. Just like the scale weight, now the clock can “weight” the electricity. With this device users can get better understanding of their surrounding electricity appliances
