If you've ever experienced the sight and sound of a split-flap screen, you'll immediately understand the nostalgic appeal of Miniot's pixelated wall clock. clapperboard It uses mechanical hatches to transmit information, much like the exit panels commonly found in transportation terminals before the advent of LEDs.
As its name suggests, Klapklok functions primarily as a low-resolution clock, displaying the hour and minute hands using 69 (pretty) “paper-like” flaps that act as black and white pixels. But Klapklok also has a Bluetooth app for creating pixel art, if that's your thing.
Like a clock, a selection of flaps are redrawn every 2.5 minutes with a gentle rustle to show the progression of the hands. At the top of the time, the 69 flaps move at once to show the time in numbers. That makes Klapklock “the softest cuckoo clock you've ever heard,” according to Miniot.
I think the smooth movement of the pixels looks cool, but it's really the sound that won me over when I first saw a working prototype last year. Here, listen to it yourself.
The USB-C powered watch is a 17.7-inch (45 cm) squircle, is just 0.5 inches (13 mm) thick, and weighs 3.7 pounds (1.7 kg). When the pixels are at rest it is completely silent, there is no light and it consumes very little power. It's expensive because the array of flaps, spools, hinges, magnets, and electronics are assembled by hand in Peter Kolkman's home workshop, the same place where this small family-owned business eventually perfected its impressive Wheel turntable that plays vinyl vertically.
Klapklok will eventually sell for 2,400 euros (about $2,600). However, it is temporarily reduced to €1,800 (around $1,950) for the first batch of 25 that is scheduled to ship by December 12 to meet the holiday deadline.
