Of the many innovative clocks that hackers and makers have designed and built, word clocks, which feature a series of letters that light up to literally spell out the time, have to be one of the best combinations of interesting technology and usability. The LEDs underneath each letter give them a nice technical base, while the clever arrangement of letters to form the proper words would make any English teacher proud.
You can see a great example of this type of clock in the video below. Lots of cool ideas for effects and functionality are featured here, such as blinking, letters dropping in, and even an audible voice:
For those of us that are more electrically-minded than mechanical, or if you simply don’t have the tools or time to make a really excellent face, here’s a 40 x 40cm option to get that taken care of. “All” you have to do is supply the electronics and program it. It’s available in Dutch or English depending on your preferred language, and it could even make an excellent instructional tool for a foreign language class.
