Karios is a faceless timekeeper that gentally reminds you through subtle haptics of an upcoming obligations throughout the day.
Whether you realise it or not, tracking time in keeping a schedule is a cognitive taxing task.
Ego Depletion
The theory of ego depletion (also known as decision fatigue) states that decisions are drawn from a limited resource. Hundreds of daily micro decision add up and can leave one depleted when it comes to making larger, more important decisions. This rings true when maintaining a schedule.
Bound Time
Studies show that people subject to bound time, (a block of time followed by an obligation) underestimated their ability to fully utilise that time. A study of 198 participants (Tonietto, S. 2018) illustrated that when participants were proposed a scenario of a one hour block of time bounded by a visiting friend, when asked how much time they had felt they had to complete a task, the average subjective estimate of participants was 40mins of the hour was utilisable.
Time Telling and Screen Time
According to a survey by yougov, 59% of Americans 16-34yo revealed to using their phones as their primary time telling device with only 26% opting for a wrist watch as their primary time telling device. Coupled with Nielsen Audience Data finding that screen time of americans increased 62% from 5.5hrs to 9hrs of daily screen time. A correlation can be drawn that smartphones are taking an ever increasing role in our lives. As we all know, one does not simply glance at their phone. It’s a time sink, full of software designed to exploit psychological loopholes to harvest our time and attention.
Karios is the next evolution of regressive technology, designed to reduce our reliance on our smartphones.
This project was mostly an excercise in designing and manufacturing custom PCBs. The image above illustrates the prototype circuitry and the miniturised PCB I developed.