I had this idea that if I had a small lens mounted in an exterior wall of my house, it could shine a little focused spot onto the opposite wall. At certain times of day I could make little pencil marks on the wall where the light beam hits, just like a sundial.
But as the year progresses and the sun dips and whirls through the seasonal analemma, that sundial path would warp and change. By following the sun and making little marks on the wall over the course of an entire year, a pattern would reveal itself showing not only a clock, but a yearly calendar as well.
Can you imagine what such a clock projection might look like? I think I would end up with a bunch of complete and partial analemma shapes, with one distorted figure-eight for each hour of the day when the sun is above the horizon.
I imagine then I could get out my paints and embellish my wall calendar/clock with colourful ornamentation and designs. The end result would be a beautiful and permanent art installation that is not only beautiful, but functional as well.
You may argue, "well that's not a new idea, that's what Stonehenge was all about". Yeah, well, do you have a working Stonehenge in your house? No, I didn't think so.-- gonzola, Sep 03 2003 (?) Team Disney Building http://www.sunpath-...ns.com/disdial2.htmThe whole building is the sundial [scottbb, Oct 04 2004] It would look like this. http://www.jgiesen.de/analemma/Java app ahead. [waugsqueke, Oct 04 2004] semi-pre-halfbaked http://www.halfbake...dea/Sun-Time_20Dome [Trodden, Oct 04 2004] Newgrange http://www.knowth.com/newgrange.htmMegolithic shenannigans. Admittance on Mid winters day to see the sun stream in is by lottery. Not really the same thing at all. [stupop, Oct 04 2004] I like this a lot. +
The latest I heard was that Stonehenge had nothing to do with heavenly bodies but was a fertility symbol, the labia shape on other heavenly bodies.-- FarmerJohn, Sep 03 2003 When the sun hits this line, we can drink again!-- jivetalkinrobot, Sep 03 2003 I'll drink to that.-- DeathNinja, Sep 03 2003 What do I do if it's rainy?-- k_sra, Sep 03 2003 Would go well with a soccer ball named Wilson.-- RayfordSteele, Sep 03 2003 definately a [+] from me ... but what if you got it TOO focus'd and burn your house down ... that, and you could have an accessory lense in your house or yard, for a night acting as a massive telescope!-- Letsbuildafort, Sep 03 2003 baked (sort of) by Disney [link]. Of course, instead of a small hole in the wall, they used a big hole in the ceiling and the entire building to do it.-- scottbb, Sep 03 2003 //It would look like this. [link]// (waugsqueke) Wow, that's actually quite beautiful.-- gonzola, Sep 03 2003 (+) You're right, I don't have a working Stonehenge in my house, but I don't have a working Easter Island either... ...so, if you could get on that...-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Sep 04 2003 Just think of all the fun you could have sticking slugs on your wall!-- Cedar Park, Sep 04 2003 Didn't Stonehenge used to have a roof?-- FloridaManatee, Sep 04 2003 And running water...-- k_sra, Sep 04 2003 You could mark the times of significant annual events on the wall (birthdays and so on). Kind of a distant cousin to marking the height of your children with a notch on the door jamb. WTAGIPBAN.-- krelnik, Sep 04 2003 This reminds me of "Raiders of the Last Ark". For that reason alone (well, that and the good quality of the idea in the first place) deserves a croissant.-- Jinbish, Nov 05 2003 How about developing this into a slightly revolting work of art - Cover the wall opposite the lens in a thin coating of raw meat, impregnated with many flies eggs (larvae?). Fit a refrigeration device behind the meat slab so as to prevent the unwanted hatching of the flies. As the lens heats the meat the flies hatch, eat the meat and fly away. This leaves a trail of denigrated meat in the pattern dictated over time by the movement of the sun. Now, fit one of those ultra-violet fly-attracting lights in a ring around the lens. Rig up a couple of powerful fans blowing from outside the lens into the open air, outdoors. Cover them so they don't shred any of the flies. With a bit of luck the sun warms the flies, brings them to life in a pattern geometrically representative of the suns path. The flies fly 'toward the light'. Upon reaching the light they aren't electrocuted (the afterlife, as it were)they are thrust into freedom to live merrily in the sun, the true sun which bought them to life. Leaving behind a meat tapestry of their god's face. Yes, it's a bit ugly, pointless and merely mirroring nature, I just liked the going toward the light bit really. Presumably the refrigerator, light and fans would be solar powered, or maybe there would be a huge rack of (fly eating) frogs on hamsterwheels, just beyond the light, powering the thing.
Right, no more wine for me.-- weedy, Nov 05 2003 This could be a service: "We Turn Your Apartment Into A Sundial". Specialists come over and measure the sunny patterns on your wall or floor, over a few- week interval, and extrapolate the full year's pattern and draw the whole calendar for you right on your wall or floor.-- phundug, Sep 01 2008 [+]
How would you compensate for daylight-saving time and leap years?-- Veho, Sep 01 2008 random, halfbakery