Watch time change its shape.
The information is familiar. Its arrival is not. On Rhei, dark liquid gathers into a number, then moves again as time changes.
RS SerbiaIn practice. A 2015 prototype uses mechanically moved magnets and ferrofluid to form changing digits.
What to keep in view
Rhei is a historical prototype, not a verified current retail product. Long-term fluid stability, maintenance and manufacturing readiness are not established. Its magnets are mechanically moved; it is not a screen.
A physical display
Stanković’s account dates Rhei to 2015 and describes 28 stepper motors moving magnets to shape ferrofluid into digits. The project was developed with electronics collaborator Marko Pavlović.
The resulting electromechanical clock is documented as a working prototype. Its numerals are made by the behaviour of a material, giving the display a physical quality that a screen animation can only represent.
A different reason to look
Our reading: Rhei is interesting as an exploration of how information feels. A clock communicates a simple fact repeatedly; changing the way that fact appears can make an ordinary glance worth taking.
The idea does not depend on claiming that liquid digits are more practical. It asks whether motion, light or material can give a familiar object a distinctive character while keeping its information understandable.
Read next.
A mechanical handover between stopwatches.
Two radically different approaches to a clock’s interaction and display. A production watch mechanism and a liquid-number prototype have distinct maturity and constraints.
Give the wind something to walk with.
Both make physical behaviour part of an expressive mechanism. Compare a moving linkage with controlled liquid shaping a display.