Genius: John Maushammer has built himself a homemade Pong Watch, in which two automated players score points according to the time. The time telling mechanism is simple: every minute, the right side player scores a point, where as every hour, the left player scores a point, with the score reset every 24 hours along with the time. Better, Maushammer has shared the build log and technical plans so you can make your own. Think Geek, please start mass producing these, stat.
Pong Watch [John Maushammer via Technabob]
Love the watch…but love the soundtrack even more! Does anyone know what that track is?
i’d be pretty pissed off if i was the right player and my score was wiped out every time the left player scored
There’s also a Pong Clock widget for Chumby.
That is fantastic. I think my only addition would be an on/off for the display. Save battery and keep from hypnotizing yourself while biking/driving.
How DARE you post a pong watch without us being able to purchase it!
Not another showoff. Damn you Maushammer. BTW Herr Maushammer, just what did your family do to get that name???
Thanks for the enthusiasm, everyone! It’s a fun fun project!
First off, here’s the second generation watch… it’s different. Just see the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glud1WLrQsQ
Bazzargh – Absolutely right. When the clock came out, someone commented that it would make a great watch. I agreed & always wanted to build my own watch.
Battery life is about 36 hours on that watch. This OLED display is emitting light all the time (unlike an LCD watch that glows only when you press the button), so it takes much more power. I have a charging cradle, so I just charge it every night. I’m hoping the second version will have a longer life, but it’s not done yet, so we’ll see.
The track is “On My Own” … I wanted a song that sounded a little like pong
http://music.download.com/ulrichschnauss/3600-8367_32-100571275.html
Ok, when you make this watch, you need to also include the ability to play the game, at least against the computer..er, watch, if not against another human (although that might be hard on 1 watch. maybe wirelessly between two?)
According to the end of the video the music is by Ulrich Schnauss: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulrich_Schnauss
No idea what the track is though.
That is easily one of the coolest things that has ever existed. Commisioning Mr Maushammer to build one of these for me is another entry on my list of “reasons I want to be fabulously rich”.
Yes, someone mass produce these. My soldering skills are sub-subpar.
John Maushammer has quite possibly the coolest last name ever.
must….own….pong….watch……
Absolute Genius!
I want one!
it would be even cooler if each time a paddle hit the ball denoted a passing second, or every time one paddle hits. so you could keep track of seconds if need be.
No link to your 2005 story about the pong clock by Leonardo Lima and Meyric Rawlings? Which is downloadable as a screensaver for Mac/Windows?
Well now there is. Also, WANT.
Evidence that genius is something that is very rare indeed. There is no way I could even contemplate the thought of thinking about imagining the creative process to produce the idea that I could think something like this up. Mr Maushammer – I am in awe.
I haven’t worn a watch for years as I consider my cell phone to be my modern version of a pocketwatch. This, however, would cause me to reconsider.
My only question is…how often would you need to replace the battery on something like this?