Ambigraph

Interactive Telecommunications Program, NYU 1999

Project Description : This is a wristpiece for studying the objective passage of your day. You subjective memory of the passage of your day is weighted towards moments that pop to your conscious attention. This is a wristwatch attempts to automatically log the landmarks of your day by recording changes in ambient conditions such as heat, light and orientation. Each activity in your day usually has a signature combination of these ambient measurements. The Ambigraph logs the data and uploads it into a display on your computer.
For instance you can tell how often you went to the bathroom, how long it takes you to walk to work, how much time you spent staring at the computer, talking on the phone, how much you move in your sleep, how long it takes you to brush your teeth. This might be more than you want to know but the theory is that activities where there is a great discrepancy between perceived and actual time either be avoided or pursued depending on how the discrepancy runs.
Technical Notes : The data gathering and storage is using the Basic Stamp with tilt, heat, and light sensors. The visualization was created using Macromedia Director/Lingo.