Ticha-Organclock

While the human body itself has made a number of useful contributions to humanity (e.g. procreation), it was never regarded as a tool that can be used for common, day-to-day purposes (e.g. telling time). Although for many people the word ‘tool’ is not the most desirable adjective to use when concerning the human body, it could be argued that it is not justified to be so offended by the notion while readily accepting the capitalization on other organisms’ bodies to make utilitarian and/or decorative objects. Bearskin rugs, cowhide shoes, and alligator leather watches are some examples of this.

Nevertheless, this clock is not meant to be an animal rights statement – but simply a means to offer a non-conventional perspective on the function of a human body. Additionally, it provides the juxtapositional image of using something as volatile and unpredictable as a body to construct a device that requires utmost precision.

I believe that this simple clock communicates my idea to some extent – but more attention should be given to the design/functionality for it to be even more effective. I do plan to possibly tweak the clock further to add more useful features (such as making the stomach glow during mealtimes) and do some touch-ups on the drawings.

EDIT: Shortened the code so that it’s not as repetitive (thanks for the suggestions Dave!) and played with sine waves to make the heart beat less regularly after talking to Golan. It’s still not behaving the way I would like it to, so if I were to make any future revisions I would definitely try to find some reliable equations that model heart beats. It would also be interesting to extend the project further by creating a ‘human clock’ of sorts, as a means to more strongly represent the biorhythmic nature of our bodies.

(A side note: It appears that the screen flashes white occasionally for some reason – not completely sure why. Also, part of the image will be cut off unless you zoom in.)

PImage heart;
PImage heart;
PImage lungs;
PImage bg;

ArrayList oxyleft;
ArrayList oxyright;

void setup() {
  size(692,804);
  heart = loadImage("heart.png");
  lungs = loadImage("lungs.png");
  bg = loadImage("organsBG.png");
  
  oxyleft = new ArrayList();
  oxyright = new ArrayList();
  
  smooth();
}

void draw() {
  background(0);
  image(bg, 0,0);
  
  for(int i = 0; i < hour(); i++) {
    oxyleft.add(new Oxy(56,288, 171,407));
  }
  
  for(int i = 0; i < minute(); i++) {
    oxyright.add(new Oxy(424,630, 160,430));
  }
  
  //beats once per second
  float x = millis()/1000.0;
  float c01 = cos(2*x);
  float c02 = cos(1+5*x);
  float c03 = 1+((c01+c02)/6);
  
  float heartPulse = pow(c03,5.0);
  
  float heartH = map(heartPulse, 0, 3,  320,345);
  
  image(heart, 200, 130, 279, heartH);
  
  for(int i = 0; i < hour(); i++) {
    Oxy l = (Oxy) oxyleft.get(i);
    
    l.run(288,56, 407,171);
    l.display();
  }
  
  for(int i = 0; i < minute(); i++) {
    Oxy l = (Oxy) oxyright.get(i);
    
    l.run(630,424, 430,160);
    l.display();
  }
  
  image(lungs,0,0);
  
}

//oxygen molecules
class Oxy {
  float posX;
  float posY;
  float size;
  float xspeed;
  float yspeed;
  
  Oxy(float loX, float hiX, float loY, float hiY) {
    posX = random(loX,hiX);
    posY = random(loY,hiY);
    xspeed = random(-1,1);
    yspeed = random(-2,0);
  
  }
  
  void run(float hiX, float loX, float hiY, float loY) {
    posX = posX + xspeed;
    
    if(hiX < posX || posX < loX) {
      xspeed *= -1;
    }
    
    posY = posY + yspeed;
    
    if(hiY < posY || posY < loY) {
      yspeed *= -1;
    }
  }
  
  void display() {
    noStroke();
    fill(#b10c0c, 220);
    ellipse(posX, posY, 5,5);
    
  }
  
}