UJI ceramic wall clock syncs with sensors and moves to your heartbeat

UJI wall clock syncs to your heartbeat and moves its hand in real-time
all images courtesy of marco zanin

designers ivor williams, jonathan chomko and federico floriani from italian research centre fabrica have developed UJI, a meditative wall clock that proposes to radically change different ways of looking at, and thinking about time. the device displays time through the motion of human impermanence – the heartbeat – presenting an alternative proposition to the notion of a ‘death-clock’ and providing a subtle materialization of zen philosophy. using arduino, electromagnets and wearable technology such as radio modules and ECG sensors, UJI lets you see your own heartbeat existing in time with movement of the minute and hour hands.

‘by projecting one’s self through the physical expression of the heartbeat, we can begin to understand ourselves as existing ‘for the time being’, explain the collective. ‘by removing seconds, minutes and hours – yet utilize the design archetype of the wall clock – we can embed zen philosophies of time to an object. providing a meditation on what it means to be in time, rather than passing through it, or anticipating it.’ 

made from a single piece of handmade ceramic, UJI’s black metal hands swing in sync with the heartbeat, contrasting tone and texture in a movement that is continually distinct. ‘as a piece of critical design, it questions the role of a death-clock as a timepiece that simply counts down the time to your death,’ they add. UJI presents a refined simplicity through action, and eventual in-action, which is more appropriate and symbolic – it suggests that any object that provokes a reflection on mortality should provide many shades of interpretation and demonstrate that life is not represented best by the past or future, but the ever-present now.’

information from the wearble sensors measure activity from the heart, and are wirelessly sent to the clock

the hands move back-and-forth in time, syncing with one’s heartbeat