Final Project: Clear Clock With Floating Hands

Overview

Clear Clock With Floating Hands

Dirty Prototyping and Design

To determine the whole size and user experience, I made a dirty mock in actual size and decided the arrangement of mechanical parts.

Fabrication

I fabricated mechanical parts from acrylic sheet by laser cutter.

Refractive Index Matching

So far, all machanical parts such as acrylic gears are transparent, but its shape are visible. To hide the edge from human eyes, I deceided to utilize a certain optical principle, refractive index matching. I tested several liquid to know whether its index is matched with that of acrylic solid.

Input Devices

I add an interaction to the system. To keep the transparancy for whole system, I used a transparent electrode for input interface. Also I developed an touch detection algorhitm for conductive material, which is based on sending/receiving a pulse from the microcontroller. This algorhitm is utilizing the floating-capacitance of our body.

Presentation

I set up my preesntation space like below. Note: I reffered a safety datasheet of silicon oil to determine whether I can exhibit it in the 6th atrium where some food will be served. It says low hazard.