Data Clock

An Arduino driven LED-clock that visualises the data it is gathering.

The municipality of 's-Hertogenbosch was starting a smart city project in a young and growing part of the city called "De Spoorzone". They wanted an eye catching object that visualises data in a playful manner. Together with Lex Raijmakers I've designed, prototyped and built this clock that can be placed in the public space. It is designed to inform and activate residents of De Spoorzone regarding smart cities, citizen science and data collection.

10 times a second the sensor that is connected to the clock measures the area around itself. The value of this measurement then is converted to a brightness level, which is sent to a light in the upper ring. When all 10 lights in the upper ring are lit an average sensor value is calculated of this ring. This value is then put in one light of the second ring, and the upper ring is cleared. When the 2nd ring is full the average is put in the 3rd ring etc. This way it is possible to see the real-time data, but also the history of the environment the clock is placed.