Time to Snow

Time to Snow is an interactive installation that displays the current time using tiny Styrofoam grains that resemble snow. The installation emphasises the aesthetic allure and ephemeral nature of snow in an immersive and magical experience. The title not only evokes “displaying time with snow”, but also serves as a double entendre to the enchanting moment when it snows. Time to Snow simulates the experience of interacting with real snow, and viewers are invited to interact playfully with the polystyrene grains using hand gestures. If no one is nearby, the hardware creates a snowstorm to attract viewers from afar until someone approaches, but the snowstorm gradually fades as they approach. A brief but powerful blizzard appears as the snowstorm comes to an end, and the current time is displayed. This is when viewers interact intuitively with the wind and snowstorm in mid-air, which respond to hand gestures. With more interactions, more parts of the numbers are erased by the wind, but new numbers are displayed every minute. When the viewers leave, the numbers melt like snow, and the snowstorm returns to its original state. The delicate polystyrene grains swaying in the wind mimic the hypnotic chaos of a snowstorm, and the numbers produced by layering Styrofoam grains create a three-dimensional effect that replicates the clumping of real snow building up into a snowy terrain, enhancing the immersive experience even further. The gathering of wind-blown grains forming shapes appears to defy physics laws, much like mystical elements in fiction, and the simple interactive hand gestures that create wind and blizzards add to the magical atmosphere. Even though the numbers remain constant, the shape of the accumulating polystyrene grains varies, and the terrain is ever-changing with the passage of time. Red Dot Award: Design Concept | Concept | Interaction and User Experience