ClockOne, a digital wall clock that uses E Ink for its display, officially goes on sale today. Twelve24, the company behind this home and office accessory, has launched a Kickstarter campaign where you can pre-order one for $400, with deliveries expected in May 2015.
Using the same display technology as that found in Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader, the ClockOne (the company styles it as ClockONE, to emphasize that it is the first E Ink clock) is a large four-digit clock that measures nearly 40 inches wide by 14 inches tall , and weighs 4.6 kilograms. It comes pre-assembled in five colorful frames (white, pink, orange, green and blue), and all you have to do is install a small magnetic wall-mounting system (it tilts so you can easily position it without leveling it first). You can display the time in 12- or 24-hour mode, and setting the time is as easy as pressing the two large buttons on the front.
By now you must be wondering why anyone would pay $400 (the price of a new iPad) for a regular watch? Andy Mitchelides, founder of Twelve24, admits it won’t appeal to the mass market. He told us that ClockOne will appeal to people who want something high-design and unique for their home or office—people who are more likely to read Dwell Magazine and shop at Design Within Reach and are willing to spend money on those products.
Prior to the Kickstarter campaign, Twelve24 displayed ClockOne prototypes at CES, as well as Dwell on Design and the International Contemporary Furniture Fair. At CES, Mitchelides found that people liked the technology (they wanted to know how the shape was cut and how it was powered) but were completely turned off by the price. But at the two design fairs, price and technology were not part of the discussion; instead, those audiences loved the emotional connection they had with this striking work.
“It’s magical to design people,” said Mitchelides, who has also found interest in elementary schools and kindergartens.
But as simple as it is, Mitchelides told us there are some significant technological innovations when it comes to E Ink. Before starting Twelve24, Mitchelides was working at E Ink on how to use technology in products other than e-books, and the clock came to mind (Twelve24 was spun off from E Ink). With ClockOne, it shows how E Ink panels can be cut into shapes and how thin you can make them (ClockOne measures less than an inch). It also shows how a large, high-contrast active-matrix display can be powered by a small watch battery for up to a year. Other challenges include fitting all the E Ink components in the middle of the process control box (PCB) within thin limits. There’s also no glass, so it’s shatterproof (but we don’t suggest dropping it).
Image used with permission of the copyright holder
“Any 2D shape you can draw, you can turn into a display,” Mitchelides said. “But at the time we didn’t know how big or how powered it could be.”
Since the prototype demo, Twelve24 has made some improvements for the final product. He managed to reduce the depth a bit, changed the battery compartment (in the prototype it was found that the battery constantly sucked when detached from the wall mount), and improved the contrast by optically connecting the screen for better readability. Mitchelides says the hardware itself is expensive, and the Kickstarter campaign will help fund the process of building the tool; Twelve24 has a funding goal of $200,000.
As unique as ClockOne is, Mitchelides said Twelve24 is not in the clock business (in its press release, Twelve24 is described as “a company that creates new products inspired by technology”). The company is looking for products that use flexible screens and new battery technology.
“We launched a disruptive design in a crowded watch market, but we didn’t set out to make a watch,” Mitchelides said. “We want to visually show industrial designers what they can do [the technology]so that the designers would first figure out what to do with the screen.”
Categories: GAMING
Source: newstars.edu.vn