I invent the clock
After Christmas, we like to leave fairy lights and glowing stars hanging in the apartment for a while. It’s still winter and it’s good to use this cozy lighting until the days get longer again.
This year, the light star, the fairy lights and our bedside lamps each have their own automated rhythm. Each light source is in a different room and is connected to a DECT socket, and we manage the schedules per socket via our Fritzbox.
Throughout the day, I watch each light source turn on and off according to its schedule. I know it’s time to wake up when the bedside lights are on. I know that there is time for certain appointments when the fairy lights go out in the morning. In the evening I have to go to bed when the star stops shining.
“Kind of cool,” I say to myself. “You constantly get casual information about what time it is. With even more light sources, a specific lighting concept could be implemented for every hour of the day. Then you just have to look where something is shining and you immediately know the time.” Two or three moments later, unfortunately, it occurs to me that the concept of “clock” already exists.
(Esther Seyffarth)