Haalo

Haalo is a clock design that displays time like an analog clock, but takes advantage of digital technology. Created by my friend Ben and I at a hackathon, Haalo is a ring of colored lights that reflects off your wall to intuitively show you what time of day it is.

We started an inspiration board, talked over some ideas, and started sketching. To implement a first version, we decided we would need a micro-controller chip, a power supply, an LED strip, and a 3-D printed body.

Next came CAD modeling and 3-D printing the frame. The 3-D printer available at the hackathon didn't have a large enough print bed, but we overcame this by printing the frame in fifths and piecing it together.

Combining the frame with RGB strip lights and some Arduino code that slowly but surely changed the color and location of light as time progressed, we had a working prototype.

Currently, we're refining the prototype and making the light softer. Next steps include the implementation of a Bluetooth chip in the clock and the development of a companion mobile app. This would help sync the clock time and allow the users to set their desired wake and sleep times. Further down the road, our goal is to incorporate machine learning capabilities which will allow the clock to adapt to individual users' daily patterns.