USMA clock uses sound to tell time

Most of us are familiar with clocks that tell the time in one of two common formats – analog or digital. Of course, wearing watches from Tokyoflash would lead you to believe that you ought to have completed that PhD after collecting your Masters degree, but that is a different story for another day. Lisbon-based studio Cabracega and designer André Gonçalves have come together to develop a spanking new clock that has no visual interface at all – instead, this timepiece will rely on sound to mark the current time. Known as USMA, this plain wooden block will feature time-keeping mechanisms within, where it emits a standard chime to mark the turn of an hour, with a single chime at each half hour.

Some might see it as a plain old square wooden box in your home that makes noise once in a while, but at least it is unobtrusive, and I am quite sure the chimes end up more soothing to the ears than most. Marking time at intervals has the effect of making time move at a slower pace – an illusion that is nice to dive into once in a while when we live in such a hectic, fast-paced world.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Gadgets