Polish modder mb1988 built this hard drive clock uses the old persistence-of-vision (POV) illusion, which display phantom “hands” on the face of the spinning drive platter. A set of colorful LEDs encircle the platter, blinking rapidly to illuminate the current time on a slot cut into the face of the platter. An ATMEGA128 microcontroller under the hood that makes the lights blink at precisely the right moment to create the illusion. There’s even a remote control that lets mb change the colors and effects on demand. But what makes this clock design really special is the incredibly detailed and evocative etching under the clock’s Plexiglas face.

You can check out the entire build log and schematics (Polish/machine translated) over on Elektroda. Don’t understand how it works? Check out the video below to see the clock in action:

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[via Hacked Gadgets]

Just flip open the collapsing handle on the Bandai Luminodisc and give it a spin. As it goes round and round, a persistence-of-vision LED display tells you how many rotations your spin made. If you hit a certain threshold, you’ll see secret hidden messages and animations. There are a couple of game modes, like trying to hit 150 rotations in 10 seconds, and a really tricky mode called “Just 100″ in which you need to stop the spinning at exactly 100 revolutions. And then there’s “Biggest Challenge” in which you shoot for 300, 400 or 500 revs without the top stopping.

In addition to the game modes, the Luminodisc works as a handy magnetic compass too. Just put it in directional mode, and a N-S-E-W directional indicator flips on the LED display when you spin it up to speed.

While these are available over in Japan for just ¥1999 ($20 USD), the folks over at Gizmine are selling these worldwide for $34.99 (USD).

Not only does the LED Message Mouse keep your mouse hand nice and cool thanks to a built-in fan, it can display dot-matrix messages along the edge of the fan blade as it spins ’round.

The mouse works its wordy magic using an illusion known as persistence-of-vision that we’ve featured a few times before here on Technabob. Just input your message on the included remote control, and watch it go through a variety of animations as it displays your words of wisdom.

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Of course, the major design flaw here is the fact that most of the time your message will be displayed underneath your hand, so unless the palms of your hands have eyeballs in them, nobody will ever get to read your Pulitzer-prizeworthy prose. The LED Message Mouse is available over at Japan’s eSupply for ¥2,079 (about $21 USD).

[via TFTS]

MonkeyLectric’s Monkey Lights snap onto the spokes of your bicycle and provide an amazing, colorful light show as you pedal through the streets at night.

You’ll have no problem being seen in the dark with a couple of these strapped to your wheels. Although you might end up causing an accident as drivers are mesmerized by the trippy kaleidoscopic patterns.

Each MonkeyLight is a self-contained circuit with 32 super-bright full color LEDs, and comes pre-programmed with thousands of dazzling lighting effects and patterns. Plus, MonkeyLectric offers a full schematic and instructions for installing your own applications, in case you want to hack in your own designs.

Just tie-wrap a Monkey Light board to each of your bike’s wheels, pop in 3 AA batteries, choose your lighting patterns, and watch it go as your wheels turn. The faster your tires spin, the cooler the effect.

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You can grab the Monkey Lights for $64.99 (USD) per wheel over at the MonkeyLectric store.

Awwww. The fan’s packaging also provides some extra Engrish fun:

You can get this at dealextreme for $6.60 (USD). Just plug it into a USB port and it’ll starting in working.

The clock comes with a wireless remote that lets you flip between a variety of different display modes, including traditional clocks, modern digitals, 3D animations, and even a Pac-Man mode. And with the optional upload module, you can load your own custom animations onto the clock face.

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The latest version of the clock offers a significant upgrade over the original 2-color version, adding a full RGB display and enhanced animation capabilities. It can even do real time math to convert square pixel graphics into the cartesian coordinates needed to display along the blade’s circular path.

The RGB POV Clock should be available from Innovative Device by the end of the year.

A narrow slot cut into the platter allows a set of flashing colored LEDs to show through as it spins. It’s powered by a PIC18F252 controller, along with custom software which adjusts the LED patterns accordingly.

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A small magnet on the platter triggers a magnetic switch to let the system know when a rotation is complete. The spinning drive platter not only can display the time, it creates a wondrous light show when it’s not in clock mode. (Ian got his inspiration from a similar clock design by Alan Parekhs).

According to Ian: “The clock works because the human eye does not see frequencies above 60 or so as blinking, but as a solid color. This is how we see a TV picture as a full image and not a series of lines being drawn across it. At 5400 RPM this drive spins just over 90 times a second, plenty fast enough to fool the eye into thinking it sees solid hands and not a spinning bar of light.”

I used to think this was the best hard disk clock hack, but I think we have a new champion.

[via Hacksosis via Make:]