Flipside – Three-Dimensional View of Time

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Design submitted by Lloyd from Australia.

“Flipside” is a modern concept watch that displays the time and date in an unusual and enigmatic way using an LCD screen combined with LEDs.

The watch’s LCD display contains 4 rows of mysterious rectangular figures representing 4 numbers. These figures are actually side views of the letters used to spell the numbers as they would appear if three-dimensional and viewed from the right. Although not every letter can be determined from this view, there is enough collective visual information to identify each number and successfully figure out the time or date.

The seconds and the year are displayed via LEDs on either side of the LCD screen. The 2 digits, arranged one on top of the other, are split in half by the screen. In ‘time mode’ the constantly changing array of LEDs resembles the banks of flashing lights on old-fashioned computer consoles seen in TV shows like Star Trek. This makes the display much more dynamic and interesting.

Flipside is USB rechargeable via a computer, and has an alarm. The watch’s case and strap are made from stainless steel and are available in silver or black. The LCD display is available in different colours and is “always on”. The LEDs, also available in different colours, can be turned off to save battery power.

20 thoughts on “Flipside – Three-Dimensional View of Time”

  2. Oh what an interesting approach! I wonder why you didn’t work with 4 flipped numbers. That would’ve been only te…. wait…. 8 and 0 would look the same then. Argh hehe. Well the sheer amount of cryptical elements has a certain appeal too and it works… it…. woooorks!

    Don’t you wonder soon, I made a concept called FRAME that also uses the idea of splitting the numbers like you did with the seconds. It’s pending for a while now. Great minds think alike 😉 I hope you’ll like it.

    Ok back to this concept! I like it but I can imagine it’s too complicated for the majority. The usage of two different number styles is a nice idea (diversion!) but they don’t fit together. I would suggest that you only use the flipped letters (or just flipped numbers) and let them flip at the press of a button or automatically each 10 seconds, then back to the flipped position. I think LCD could do that. The straps look cool with their little segments that have about the same aspect ratio as the flipped letters 🙂

    I like the idea and support it. Good luck Lloyd!

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    • Sam, I couldn’t use digits because, after I came up with this idea for a puzzle in the 90s using letters and published it in a book, someone copied the idea and used digits instead so I felt I couldn’t use them. Also, as you noted, they wouldn’t really work that well. I’ve used split digits on this site before and in puzzles so they aren’t new to me. I thought about a reveal mode, but decided TF could add that if they felt it was really necessary. I always feel it kind of defeats the purpose. Thanx for your feedback.

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  3. Looks really complex and difficult at first, but very easy when you know how. Looks very technical like an early computer. I can imagine it having a shrill computer voice like in old sci-fi shows 5/Y best of luck Lloyd! 😀

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    • Thanx for your comments, Pete. 😉 I just wanted to create a watch that looked different and interesting and had a lot going on. A computer-like voice would be fun. 🙂

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  4. I think it’s cool, Lloyd, even if a little complicated. Another one of those watches which would require a fair bit of familiarity to be able to read the time easily (not necessarily a bad thing). It would be good to see you using 3D and animations, Lloyd, as your designs seem to have a bit of sameness about them, just because of the way you present them. I’d love to see the above watch come to life…seconds ticking away, minutes and hours changing. The time-telling would be easier to understand with some animations, too. I also think your ratings would go up considerably.

    5/Y from me!

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    • Hey thanx DZ! 🙂 Yeah I’d love to be able to do 3D. It makes such a difference to how a design is perceived. I’ll definitely think about it. Cheers mate! 😉

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  7. The time is a bit complex to crack at first, but with a bit of practice, it becomes very easy. Even without the explanation, a person can decipher with some patience and flexibility since the visual cues are clues enough. I especially like the “split seconds” lighting the frame of the watch.

    5 and yes. Good luck, Lloyd!

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  8. Wonderful design, if you enjoy staring at your watch for a few hours, trying to keep up with the change in minutes (and, eventually, hours) as time flows on. I probably sound obnoxiously critical when I say this, but this is probably the least practical design ever posted on this website. I know that the basic purpose of all Kisai watches is to completely befuddle the minds of the unknowing, but the idea is also to make it practical. There was no reason to do the thing with the adding of the two top rows together (well, there is the fact that maybe stacking the rows made it so that there didn’t have to be multiple five-character rows, but it’s still irritating to calculate the time every time you look at your watch).

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    • Hehe no worries pcred. 😉 I think it just looks tricky initially. The shock of the new. 🙂 For example, you can read the seconds at a glance once you understand how the digits have been arranged. Similarly, the numbers in the LCD are pretty easy too, once you know what they represent. In fact, I can read the display as fast as a normal watch and faster than my Tokyoflash Nekura Scramble watch. 🙂 I imagine a lot of voters have voted it down because they think it looks overly complicated without trying to understand it. No calculation is necessary.

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  9. The watch is really great, it is unique and interesting. The new way of deciphering the time is quite easily recogniseable, once you know how. The brain is a marvellous thing, and it adapts easily, things that look difficult at first are easily accommodated into our way of thinking, and before long become automatic. Our brians are graet at decihpering anomailes, and fillnig in the gaps wehn at fisrt things don’t really comupte.
    I really love this watch.

    Diane.

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  10. I like the overall look of the case and the idea for the second. But, I feel like there is too much information to decrypt. I wouldn’t buy.

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