This Translucent LED Clock Tells Time in Three Colors and Chomps Like Pac-Man

It’s hard to beat the classic form of the analog dial clock, where three hands indicate the hours, minutes, and seconds at a glance. Redditor JelleWho's project, however, takes a new swing at this circular format as a 3D-printed structure and diffuser with a strip of WS2812B LEDs inside. The trick is that instead of populating the entirety of the area under the diffuser a large number of discreet lines LEDs, the LED strip faces inward to transmit the light toward the center as red, green, and blue lines to indicate the time.

The clock can produce animations as well, including the Pac-Man sequence shown here, where LEDs turn yellow, and blink on and off to open and close its newly formed mouth. The unit is controlled by an ESP32 module and a custom PCB, and sets the time using the local network over WiFi.

It's capable of adjusting the brightness automatically to match the surroundings, and is configured through a browser interface. It’s also able to change lighting based on ambient conditions, and there are a number of “soft settings” that are preserved after power cycles to keep you from having to set everything up again and again.

The device is open source, with build info available on GitHub. If you live in the Netherlands, creator JelleWho is also selling them upon request.