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Napoleon Merana

Napoleon Merana

Los Angeles, CA, US

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Timex TX54- Core 77-runner up

“Timex TX54”: TIME AT YOUR FINGERTIPS    

CHANGE

The timepiece has served as a cultural barometer of technological development in modern history.  This development progressed through an overall increase in accessibility and availability to the masses, a decrease in size, and various permutations responding to events, conditions, and fashions.

CULTURE

The dual core ideas consistent throughout this development is that we as a culture operate within a social network where time is maintained to orchestrate interfaces with one another, while certain aspects of our lives require the measure of duration.  As such, being aware of the precise time has been important to our daily operation. 

A direct consequence is the necessity for carrying a timepiece. This item of convenience gradually transformed into an artifact of necessity where technology and production have shrunk the clunky clock down to the pocket watch and, later, the wristwatch.  The ubiquitous watch-as-a-bracelet transformed into functional adornment for the body where it has made an appearance on necklaces and rings, thereby reinforcing its position as an integral part of our bodies.  

QUESTION

Our proposed design springs from these ideas and integrates the concept of a timepiece which is personal and integral to the body.  We envision a future where a preponderance of technological devices and aids fill our daily lives and posit the question “What time is it?”  The answer should come easily, clearly, and instantly.

RE-INVENTION

The TX54 timepiece is distilled down to its basic functional essence: a digital device which tells the time at the convenience of your “fingertips”…. literally.  Additionally, it embodies the ultimate in portability by shrinking down to a simple, lightweight, and discreet instrument which becomes an integrated yet non-invasive part of the body.   Much like disposable contact lenses, the TX54 is a disposable timepiece which has migrated away from the traditional position on the wrist and is quite simply applied to the thumb.   Time can be glimpsed with a glance to thumb.  

PRACTICAL

The  TX54 is a durable composite display with integrated circuitry.  The display clearly shows the time (hour, minutes, seconds), as well as the date in a simple font, visible in both bright daylight and dark night.  The technology of “Indiglo” once again comes to the aid of lucent and legible data.  Information at a glance. 

Pressure applied by the index finger to the control bar at the end of the “fingertip” toggles between the time and date interfaces and allows for these settings to be modified.  The ceaseless heat of the body is harnessed to provide perpetual power for the timepiece.  

PERSONAL

A by-product of the timepiece is its role as an element of fashion which now provides the opportunity for individual choice: to express or not to express.  The disposable nature of the TX54 allows for the possibility of variations in expression.  The background display will be available in a multiple array of colors for both men and women, as well as a most discreet translucent interface.  

TIME

Time is a constant.

It doesn’t change – you do.

 
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Status: Competition Entry
Location:
My Role: Ideation
Additional Credits: David Takacs
Stephan Schubert

http://www.core77.com/timex/winners/wearable.asp