Hexahedron: Twin-snake mode watch!

Posted on by

Design submitted by Peter from the UK.

Peter says: I recently created a design with a time telling display using two or three faces of a cube in an analogue style called “Anacube“. This made we wonder if I could use more if not all the faces of a cube to tell the time in an analogue format. This combined with another idea for a watch using a 3D snake to illustrate the time resulted in “Hexahedron”

The display (LCD) depicts a glass cube where all 6 faces are visible, this display is exaggerated by a faceted glass lens giving the display a 3D look. The time is told using one or two “snakes” of highlighted blocks running around these faces. The hours are shown on four faces of the cube in one axis, the minutes are displayed on four faces in a perpendicular axis.

The hours could be displayed with one snake and the minutes with another. In the single snake mode the minutes and the hours are linked by you guessed a single snake. The two ends of the snake highlight the hour and minute.

This design is based on geometric forms and may appeal to people interested in shapes or maths. The snake like time telling may appeal to folks who like retro games and graphics.

The 3D looking display and relatively simple time telling gives this design a contemporary look that would suite both casual and formal attire separating this design from others.

23 thoughts on “Hexahedron: Twin-snake mode watch!”

  1. Aw yeah! This one looks great and the time telling method is cool and new. The twin snake mode… hubba hubba xD The single snake mode is a bit difficult at the moment. “The two ends of the snake highlight the hour and minute” N….nah, when I look at the 3:48 I see the 48 at one end but the 3 is inside the snake. The 11:22 is tough for me. Anyway, it looks like I want it on my wrist! Very nice diversified display 5♥/YES

    Like

    • Yeah the single snake is tricky, if there was better way to highlight the ends or show the snakes direction it would be much clearer. A multi colour screen would help but add to cost and complexity. I’m glad the two snake mode hits the mark. Cheers for the support Sam! 😀 ~~~~=< (that's meant to be snake btw)

      Like

  3. Finally! Been waiting to give this top marks…=) I think it looks fantastic, the 3D effect works wonderfully (in the renders at least, but should be perfectly make-able). I agree with Sam that the single snake mode is not as easy as one might like, but I’m sure it’s possible to learn. And even if you can’t there’s always the twin snakes to fall back on…=)
    All thumbs up!

    Like

    • Thanks a lot Anders, I imagine there is plenty of room for improvement with both versions/modes. Im sure TF’s team could find many ways of making it clearer and easy to read etc. Cheers for the feedback and the support sir! 😀

      Like

  6. Hey, Pete! So the X,Z plane is hours, the X,Y plane is minutes–what about adding a Y,Z plane for the seconds?

    Like

    • Seconds would be cool too, I chose not to add them just because the LCD already looked very dense with a large number of blocks. If it could be done it would be cool. The only issue I see is that the more blocks the harder it will probably get to distinguish one “snake” from another unless three colours could be used. I have only seen a few multi-coloured LCDs about so I don’t know how limited or expensive it is. Mind you a proper designer who knows more about LCD would probably be able to use the blocks to create better clarity, maybe using negative areas etc. I hope that its interesting enough for TF to look into it! Cheers for the feedback sir! 😀

      Like

  7. Another nice design Pete. I like the colour version best with 2 snakes because it’s easier for me to read. If I’m honest, I’m not so keen on the lens. It seems incongruous unless you view the watch face at the correct angle. Also, I think it’s gonna get damaged. Anyway, I gave you 5Y. Good luck!

    Like

    • I think the lens would be pretty subtle, it wouldn’t need to be particularly raised. Just enough to create the facets and make it feel 3D. The lens wouldn’t need to be as deep as Heather and Firs “X”. The display itself wouldn’t need to be “deep” either so shouldn’t mess with the perspective when viewed at a shallow angle. That said you wouldn’t be able to read LCD at too shallow an angle anyway, like any LCD watch. I’m glad you take some positives away from the design even if not all the detail works for you, cheers Mushy 😀

      Like

  9. The two snake, two colour version is the one for me (for readability). I would struggle to accurately read the minutes (e.g. 46 / 47), but would easily be able to get a rough idea. Had the same problem with Mugen – my eyes are obviously not up to the fine detail. However, I still think this looks great and is a “must have”. 5*/Y.

    Like

    • Cheers for the feedback Nev, I did contemplate having the minutes in five min blocks and having separate single minutes for simplicity and clarity. Either would work fine I think. I’m glad you like the look and the concept. There is always room for improvement! cheers! 😀

      Like

  10. looks cool, especially the black and white ones, but the time reading is not really working for me.

    Like

  12. I like the triangles/bars combo. I prefer the dual-color band. I prefer the dual-color LCD. For a single color display, I prefer the not-centered hour, like the 1st pic, because there will be less superposition.

    Nice looking watch but a bit too complex. I prefer the Anacube. I gave 4*.

    Like

    • Cheers for the feedback Makko! I worked on the premis that the hours could use either of the rows of squares, which ever is clearest at the time kinda thing.
      Yeah Anacube was really simple and hopefully kinda elegent. Cheers for the vote sir! 😀

      Like

Comments are closed.