
Durr: A shivering unisex bracelet that investigates our perception of 5 minutes - wyclif
http://skreksto.re/products/durr
======
teddyh
> it adds an undeniable “rhythm” to the day, chopping it into chunks
    
    
      The gods confound the man who first found out
      how to distinguish hours! Confound him, too,
      who in this place set up a sundial,
      to cut and hack my days so wretchedly
      into small portions!  When I was a boy,
      my belly was my sundial — one surer,
      truer, and more exact than any of them.
      This dial told me when ’twas proper time
      to go to dinner, when I had aught to eat;
      But nowadays, why even when I have,
      I can’t fall-to unless the sun gives leave.
      The town’s so full of these confounded dials
      the greatest part of the inhabitants,
      shrunk up with hunger, crawl along the street.
    

— Plautus (c.254-184 BC)

~~~
kemist
> With Durr you become aware of how your brain alters the length of a bus
> ride, how fast you finish a beer, how time flies by when you enjoy yourself,
> and drags along when you wait in line at the post office.

Let me propose the 20% case that'll feel like the 80% case. Having a beer with
a friend and sharing laughter, and ...buzz.buzz.buzz... being reminded mid-
laugh that you're having a beer with a friend sharing a laugh.

I enjoy the moments where my brain adjusts the volume of the world around me,
I get lost in thought and time becomes my bitch.

------
Simucal
This reminds me of feelSpace[1]. It is a belt which has vibrating motors all
around it and a compass. I believe the point is to give you an extra "sense"
which after you have worn it enough you incorporate with your other senses.

[1] - [http://feelspace.cogsci.uni-
osnabrueck.de/](http://feelspace.cogsci.uni-osnabrueck.de/)

~~~
corin_
That in turn reminds me of magnet implants which are an interesting (and a
little odd) concept. [http://www.iamdann.com/2012/03/21/my-magnet-implant-
body-mod...](http://www.iamdann.com/2012/03/21/my-magnet-implant-body-
modification)

~~~
cavilling_elite
Doesn't work well in my 9.4 T MRI environment :)

~~~
Crito
That's for sure. I wonder how safe these sort of implants are even when just
playing around with other rare earth magnets. Having the implant ripped out
because you absentmindedly picked up another magnet would _really_ suck.

------
tlb
"Shivering unisex" must have done well in A/B testing.

~~~
gregchapple
better than the alternative: "vibrating unisex".

------
INTPenis
This must be a gag, or the worst example of western opulence I could possibly
think of.

Seriously, an electronic gadget made to disrupt your day every 5 minutes. I
think this requires a better explanation of the purpose before I take it
seriously. Right now all the marketing speak combined with the banality of
this device makes me think it's the perfect april fools but a few months too
soon.

Let's assume it's for real, why would you want to get reminded that 5 minutes
have passed when you've lost yourself in a fun life moment? Or when you're
waiting for something a long time, that would be even worse.

~~~
wpietri
I think you're misunderstanding the experience.

I'm sure it would seem interruptive the first few times. But after that, it
would become familiar. If you've ever lived near a clock that ticks or chimes,
it eventually becomes part of the background, a subtle reminder of the flow of
time.

Your approach to consciousness, to get lost in pleasant things and to be
oblivious of unpleasant things, is one way to be. But other people are after
different things. Plenty of people want a better sense of the flow of time.
Note, for example, the popularity of the Pomodoro Method.

~~~
stevekemp
I grew up in a terraced house that was immediately adjacent to the back of a
convent/nunnery. There would be frequent bell-ringing to call the sisters to
prayers, etc.

I slept right through it. Always.

Until we moved house, then I'd find myself waking up at, say, midnight for the
first few weeks being slightly disturbed that the bell _hand 't_ run.

------
blhack
Anybody that wants one of these: this looks like it would be /trivially/ easy
to build. An attiny85 and a vibration motor would do it.

The only "hard" part would be fitting a battery in this form factor.

Go to your local hackerspace during some open hours, and tell the hackers you
want to build one of these. I bet they'll do it with you!

(Hell: I'LL do it with you if you come down to heatsync labs [in Phoenix])

~~~
GusClark
I was thinking that it would be easy to add this functionality to my pebble
watch.

~~~
DanitaBaires
I was exactly what I thought. Is there any "watchapp" that does this?

~~~
metalcring
There is an interval trainer app for running but I think it will work for
this. Set it up for 5 minute intervals and you should get a similar
functionality. The only thing is it won't run in the background so you have to
keep the app open.

------
jamii
It's a really nice idea, but why buy a watch when you already have a vibrating
computer in your pocket?

[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nedzadhrnj...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nedzadhrnjica.android.alarmevery15minutes&hl=en)

~~~
r0m4n0
I was thinking the same thing but could you imagine your phone vibrating in
your pocket every 5 minutes? If I didn't expect my phone to also vibrate for
phone calls and messages all day long, an app would be viable... sadly, you
probably need to distinguish in an obvious way

~~~
xhrpost
Might be workable if you have the option to change the vibration pattern to
something clearly distinct from a notification.

~~~
r0m4n0
Agreed.

I was thinking maybe an audio queue... haha
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyBSrBqogPY&noredirect=1](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyBSrBqogPY&noredirect=1)

------
r00fus
From TFA: > Oh, and no, it's not waterproof, so don't shower with it.

Water resistance just seems to be a requirement these days - even my Pebble
which I'd never wear in the shower is water resistant so when I am forced to
react to a bath incident, I don't worry about the watch, and my kids instead.

Sounds like a pet project - maybe they should hire a real watch designer who
can get them from hobby to actual product at some point.

~~~
NathanKP
_" Even my Pebble which I'd never wear in the shower is water resistant"_

One of the things I love about my Kickstarter Pebble is that I have gone
swimming with it, and I've even gone diving down to about 20 feet with it and
it still works brilliantly. It's nice to not have to worry about it around
water.

I'm definitely a risk taker with electronics and water though. I actually put
my new iPhone in a ziplock bag to see if it would make an effective underwater
camera while diving. (Just so you know the ziplock bag did succeed in keeping
my iPhone safe, but the video was too blurry to be useful because the lens
didn't focus right under water.)

------
trebor
The idea might be good, but the price is extravagant. I think the parts should
cost only $60-70, maybe less, so charging nearly $148 is laughable. Especially
when I can get a nice, brand-name watch for $118 or so.

~~~
foob
What was the price? They sold out of them and have apparently taken it down
now.

~~~
trebor
They posted that it was £90. That converts to $147.71 USD today.

------
Zuider
This is the first time I've upvoted a post that sells fake watches.

------
desireco42
My MotivAider does this fantastically, I like it on my belt and aside from
being bulky, is perfect machine for $50.

[http://www.amazon.com/Behavioral-Dynamics-9609-QC-
MotivAider...](http://www.amazon.com/Behavioral-Dynamics-9609-QC-
MotivAider/dp/B000MMVSKW/)

I've been using it to establish habits, remind myself to be mindful and focus
on task.

------
schmichael
Why would anyone pay money to get interrupted every 5 minutes? I would pay
money _not_ to get interrupted every 5 minutes.

~~~
lnanek2
Maybe you could use it for something, like a reminder to stop browsing
internet sites and do some work :) There was a write recently of someone who
got a ton more work done by hiring someone on craigslist to slap them in the
face if they ever go off task, like spending a lot of time on facebook.

~~~
schmichael
But they were getting slapped when they were distracted: not every 5 minutes
whether they were focused or not.

I'm having a hard time imagining constant interruption being _good_ for
concentration.

------
ChrisNorstrom
Better: Install "Multilingual Speaking Clock" instead (windows only I think)
and set it up so it announces the time every 5 minutes through your computer
speakers.

It. Is. A. Mind. Game.

When your brain "idles" you lose track of time. Time in the mind only exists
as a comparison of one moment in the past and another moment in the present.
So when you're daydreaming (mostly brain idling) time appears to fly by
because there's less datapoints for your mind to use to compare. But when
you're checking the time constantly time appears to go by very very slowly.

It can become mentally exhausting when you do it too much though because it
speeds up the mind. You become aware of every little moment. It can make you
extremely productive but you really do have to take "brain idling" breaks
every now and then. Also when you first start off, time will appear to fly by,
it'll feel like "5 min" are flying by every 30 seconds. But after about 30
minutes your brain will stop idling so much, you'll become aware of more time
points, and it'll feel like time is slowing down and you're thinking "faster".

Give it a try. It's really fascinating.

------
j_m_b
Wow... I've been having this idea for a watch for a while.. someone with the
hardware knowledge pulled it off. Did the creators try having a short
vibration for five minutes and than a longer vibration for an hour?

------
gesman
Republish it on April 1st :)

------
aareet
I'm curious to see the results of this. I wonder if there are any negative
impacts to consciously acknowledging the passage of time with a device like
this considering that when "time flies", it does so because you aren't
conscious of its passing.

From TFA: > how time flies by when you enjoy yourself, and drags along when
you wait in line at the post office

I suspect my experience at the post office be made worse by the fact that
there's something vibrating on my wrist reminding me of how long I've been
waiting?

------
jpwright
Check out TicTocTrac
([http://www.tictoctrac.com/](http://www.tictoctrac.com/)). Open source watch
that monitors when you check the time, and lets you track time perception
whenever you want (instead of buzzing you every 5 minutes, you tap to start
the test and then tap when you think X minutes have elapsed). You can save the
data and use the site to visualize it later. The BOM comes to about $55.

------
gress
Sounds like something from Harrison Bergeron.

~~~
chaostheory
"It was tragic, all right, but George and Hazel couldn't think about it very
hard. Hazel had a perfectly average intelligence, which meant she couldn't
think about anything except in short bursts. And George, while his
intelligence was way above normal, had a little mental handicap radio in his
ear. He was required by law to wear it at all times. It was tuned to a
government transmitter. Every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send
out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair advantage
of their brains. "

Yeah I'm not sure why people would buy this.

~~~
gress
Thanks! That was the quote I wanted but couldn't find.

------
hyp0
Love the copy. "Wait what". Totally hip.

Interesting concept. Though I'm sure there's an app for that... or will be.

~~~
JTxt
Yes, search for interval timer, repeat timer... The closest free app I found
for ios so far is "wake me up." It repeats forever but doesn't run in the
background.

------
jbl
I love stuff like this. I've been doing some of my own work around this idea
by measuring the time it takes me to do certain everyday tasks.

My morning routine is about 15 minutes. So is going to the coffee cart on the
corner for coffee and a doughnut. However, I often perceive and think about
the latter as taking much longer.

------
JTxt
Interesting thought. Reminds me of when people around me had an hourly chime
on their watch... Usually inadvertently.

I'm downloading a interval timer app to test it out. My guess is that it will
drive me nuts soon.

Edit: I didn't find any good options free for ios yet. "Wake me up" works
well, but not in the background.

------
wyclif
More here: "A vibrating watch that messes with your perception of time."
[http://www.wired.com/design/2014/01/a-vibrating-watch-
that-m...](http://www.wired.com/design/2014/01/a-vibrating-watch-that-messes-
with-your-perception-of-time/)

------
JohnHelm
Get a GymBoss interval timer. Great for exercise, and can accomplish this
perception thing. (it has a vibrate-only mode).

[http://www.amazon.com/Gymboss-Interval-Timer-Stopwatch-
METAL...](http://www.amazon.com/Gymboss-Interval-Timer-Stopwatch-
METALLIC/dp/B00CH05BLO/)

------
ececconi
I think a lot of its cost comes from the fact that the device is made in Oslo.
In Norway, labor prices are upwards of $125 USD per hour. If hamburgers are
$50 there, then it makes sense that this thing is priced like a couple of
hamburgers.

~~~
objclxt
Your figures are quite a bit off. A Big Mac is $7.51[1], and the average wage
in Norway is around $6440 a month[2], or around $40 an hour (based on a 170
hour work month).

They are high - they're nowhere near as high as you're making out.

[1]:[http://www.economist.com/content/big-mac-
index](http://www.economist.com/content/big-mac-index)
[2]:[http://www.ssb.no/en/lonnansatt/](http://www.ssb.no/en/lonnansatt/)

------
dereferenced
This could also be implemented as a smartphone app running in the background..

~~~
pohl
Sure, but how would I distinguish a 5-minute-interval vibration from the
myriad email notification vibrations?

------
alimoeeny
I don't want the watch but I like the idea, I actually have an app on my that
chimes every 30 minutes, and I find it useful,

------
mlindley
In my opinion, this is pretty dumb. It serves no purpose other than as a piece
of interactive art. I guess it is pretty though.

------
lurkinggrue
More a thing to stick in a smart watch like the pebble than a product on its
own.

------
etanazir
Maybe a 'private' version would be marketable?

------
ramgorur
I need this badly, especially while I am reading HN.

------
nedludd
Ugliest thing ever

~~~
lafar6502
yeah, but at least they warn about shivering unisex. This device would look
much better if put inside candy watch.

------
Kiro
How can I achieve this with my Pebble?

------
elwell
would buy/wear if colored circle was much smaller or different design idea.

------
bagosm
Looks fun but could get irritating as a constant reminder, also I would be
confused with my phon'es vibration.

The girl could do with a lot less arm hair though

~~~
petepete
Sharp Knees Syndrome.

