If you need to know the time, there are digital clocks, and analog clocks. Both types generally follow established formats. But there are a few exceptions that are bit more fun, such as this clock that literally spells out the time in English. As seen above, it is telling the user that, “It is quarter to two.”
It’s a neat idea, and you can buy an open source model from Tindie assembled for just under $200. If all you’re interested in is the end result, that might be a good option, but if you want to be able to say that you built it, Tinker Electric also sells it in a kit form for twenty-five bucks less, or even without a frame if you’d like to buy (or build) your own. The link is the same, just play with the options before putting it in your cart.
Each of the letters is individually-addressable, and since it’s open source, you can change things around to your liking. Perhaps you can find better combinations of words to make jokes or an animation at the bottom of every hour, or even add sensor capabilities to cause it to blink out a message when it sees someone enter the room.
