TIMEFRAME

2nd Place - Dezeen x Samsung Ambient Mode Design Competition (out of 350+ designs)

2018

Jury | graphic designer Neville Brody, industrial designer Erwan Bouroullec, Samsung Electronics' head of the design centre Dontae Lee and Dezeen's editorial director Amy Frearson

Team | Alex Warr

The Dezeen x Samsung Ambient Mode Design Competition focused on the evolving usability of the Ambient Mode, a new feature on Samsung’s QLED TV which blends the TV into the living room and the surrounding space by mimicking the wall’s color and displaying desired content and information. The competition asked designers to question the potential of this technology and imagine how the TV could blend into and become integrated into space more than ever.

TimeFrame is a dynamic window, enhancing the user’s space by creating a virtual connection to another environment. Our design takes the archetype of a window and moves it forward by transforming it into something dynamic — creating a new type of window that morphs based on multiple, like the hands of a clock, the activity in the room, and the user's aesthetic choices.

We were interested in leveraging the Ambient Mode technology to expand the potential of the window as an architectural and spatial element.

When little to no motion is detected in the space (say the user is sitting on the couch reading) the window depicts more objective time, moving slowly and closely following the hour, minute, and second hands of the clock. But, when activity is detected (maybe while the user has a social gathering), the shape morphs more dramatically, distorting the movement of the clock hands and expressing the subjectivity of one’s perception of time.

Users can customize TimeFrame by selecting from a range of material and articulation styles that integrate into the aesthetic style of their home. These styles can range from minimal to more highly articulated — with materials like wood, metal, or many others. Users can also select from a range of exterior scenes, either similar to their actual environment or different from it. And based on weather data form the user’s location, the weather and time of day in the virtual environment can respond to that of the user’s actual environment. For example, if a user in a rural environment selects a view of a city, when weather data shows that it is raining in the user’s location, it can also be raining in the virtual city. 

TimeFrame is unique in that it is connected to and integrated within reality — enhancing and expanding the possibilities for a user’s space.