Project Definition
Contemporary society is currently trapped in a chrono-obsessive, future-oriented mindset, making it difficult for people to engage with the present moment. This project has led to the creation of interactive experiences and tools that distort time perception to counter this phenomenon. By manipulating cognitive patterns, sensory input and expectations, and cultural narratives of time, I aim to help individuals question their relationship with time and develop a deep appreciation of the present.
Visualization of the project's area of investigation
What is time?
Einstein defines time as relative to one’s frame of reference. The rate at which time passes depends on your frame of reference.
Aristotle defines time as a number of change with respect to the before and after.
The main aim of my project is to get people to ask themselves about what time really is according to their own definitions, aside from external influences. Throughout this process I have began to define and redefine time according to my own experiences, research and my relationship with it.
Time, therefore, for me is:
- Time is a series of different infinities of existence (infinities of different magnitudes)
- Time is a series of nows.
- Time is subjective
- Time is a malleable resource
My definitions and visualizations of time
Physical representation of time as a ripple
Exploration Territories
Because time is such a vast entity, the project needed territories into which it would be confined to, to allow for a deeper understanding, and analysis and thorough research. These territories included:
- Pan-African nowness
- Futuristic Gratification
- Chronomania (term coined by the researcher)
- Achrona (another term coined by the researcher)
By building these constraints, I was able to create a clear pathway through which my thesis would flow and which would direct my research process as well as user testing.
Project Territory Map
Object Explorations
Silent Time Clock
Hand drawn sketch of the silent time clock
Physical Prototypes of the silent time clock
Borrowed from the concept of African Philosophy that is ‘Silent time’, this clock is meant to act as a provocative asset, taking away from chronomania as it lacks the universal/ expected time-measuring metrics.
The face of the clock does not relay time as expected and is created from African fractal patterns.
The idea is, knowing how to compute time using the patterns, you might be able to read the clock
Silent time/ No time: What has not taken place.
Prototype of a sundial face borrowing from the silent time clock
The face of the clock was also modified into the face of a sundial. Applying the same theory about deconstructing expectations in terms of what the face of a time-measuring device appears like, the fractal face began a line of products that would otherwise follow the same theory on silent time.
Light Clock
Physical prototype of the light clock
Functioning similarly to the silent time clock, the light clock is meant to break from the concept of chronomania, going against the linear measurement of time.
It’s a deconstruction of what a regular clock would look like with its hollow face and function like, using light as well as an irregular oscillation pattern to indicate the passing of time without giving the exact measurement of it.
Video of the light clock in progress
Physical Three Circle Test
The three-circle test, was initially designed, as an experiment to investigate how individuals perceive their balance between their focus on the past, present and future. Because of my investigation of time perception between present-focused and future-oriented experiences of time, this would be a good way of collecting data and user testing.
The idea behind concept development was that having physical versions of the test would be an intriguing way to introducing tangibility to time.
Hand drawn sketch of the physical 3-circle test
Now-Compass (Ongoing)
The now compass as an artifact was born from two different concepts:
- My personal definition of time as a series of nows’.
- The critique of ‘African time’ as having a lax attitude to time/ being synonymous with tardiness.
It stands at an intersection between time, direction as well as an appreciation of the present.
Each phase of the compass had a different version of ‘now’, in different languages and written in different ways. It was created as a way, not of telling time, but a reminder that time exists in a series of nows.
Hand drawn sketch of the now compass
Version I
Initial prototype of the now compass
Version II
Upon user testing, different suggestions arose on the next iteration of the now compass. The comments included ensuring a smoother rotation of the compass and prompting people to think about moments of ‘now’ rather than saying that it was now: Show don’t tell’
With this, the next iteration of the compass morphed into a wheel. Instead of having the different words portraying now, the wheel uses questions to prompt people to think about the present moment. Some of these prompts include:
‘What is the most distant sound you hear?’
‘What does the air smell like?’
‘Describe the shape/form the clouds create’
These prompts would help anchor people to the present moment.
Second iteration of the now compass that evolved into a wheel of now
Version III
The third iteration of the now compass (which is currently ongoing) involves material exploration, mechanics definition as well as incorporation of the fractal face found in the silent time clock. With this iteration, the mechanics of the compass are expected to be more seamless and automatic.
Prototyping process of third iteration of now compass
User Experiments
Chronos - Kairos Experiment
This experiment was developed in reference to my early investigations on clock time versus event time to answer what time perception people currently exist in. This experiment was used to plot people who live in chronos versus people who live in kairos.
Chronos is defined as quantitative time measured in years, months, weeks, days, hours minutes, whereas kairos is defined as qualitative time which is all about moments.
During the experiment, the users were asked a bunch of questions and based on the answers they gave, they were plotted on a chronos-kairos scale. These questions included:
- ‘How was your day?’
- ‘How did you spend your weekend?’
- ‘How are you today?’
Chronos-kairos markers during this experiment
After data was collected, the results were plotted on a scale, giving insight into which time orientation people primarily lived in: chronos or kairos. A lot of things were then factored into understanding why this was the case, such as career, culture, personal experience, as well as personal characteristics.
