SnailClocks 🐌

Starting on Friday, July 27, 2018 and for a total of 12 consecutive Fridays, I created various types of clocks that are snail themed in some way.

#	Date	Description	Link
0	July 13, 2018	Koch Walking Snail Clock	https://jsfiddle.net/asteriskman/wsqL9eof/embedded/result/dark/
1	July 27, 2018	Hilbert Snail Clock	https://jsfiddle.net/asteriskman/bwpeL0qk/embedded/result/dark/
2	August 3, 2018	Snail Shell Clock	https://jsfiddle.net/asteriskman/9z4kmjts/embedded/result/dark/
3	August 10, 2018	Snail Slime Clock	http://jsfiddle.net/asteriskman/51jyx9Lt/embedded/result/dark/
4	August 17, 2018	Snail Walk Clock	https://jsfiddle.net/asteriskman/6n240esv/embedded/result/dark/
5	August 24, 2018	Parallax Snail Clock	https://jsfiddle.net/asteriskman/6tgsfp2w/embedded/result/dark/
6	August 31, 2018	Snail Destination clock	https://jsfiddle.net/asteriskman/ytf79ugn/embedded/result/dark/
7	September 7, 2018	Falling Shells Clock	https://asteriskman7.github.io/SnailClock7/
8	September 14, 2018	Hypnosnails Clock	https://asteriskman7.github.io/SnailClock8/
9	September 21, 2018	Space Snail Party Clock	https://asteriskman7.github.io/SnailClock9/
10	September 28, 2018	Psychedelic Abstract Clock	https://asteriskman7.github.io/SnailClock10/
11	October 5, 2018	SASA Control Room Clock	https://asteriskman7.github.io/SnailClock11/
12	October 12, 2018	World Snail Eclipse Clock	https://asteriskman7.github.io/SnailClock12/

Koch Walking Snail Clock

This clock was the original inspiration for the snail clock project. I created it when someone complained that a snail emoji in my nickname wasn't moving. The Koch snowflake is my favorite fractal. I generated it using an L-system.

Hilbert Snail Clock

The snail traces out the path of a level 6 hilbert curve over the course of an hour. The highlighted pulse traverses the current path once per minute. Just like the Koch Walking Snail Clock, the hilbert curve was generated with an L-system.

Snail Shell Clock

The current time winds its way up from the center of the snail's shell following a logarithmic spiral. The center of the spiral is infinitely distant in the future.

Snail Slime Clock

A single snail goes from one point on the edge of a circle to another point on the edge of a circle, leaving a slimy trail behind it. It chooses its path such that, over time, it draws the current time.

Snail Walk Clock

A single snail walks around the clock face leaving a multicolored trail in its wake. It fills in the clock so that what it leaves slime-free is the current time. If it gets stuck too long in its own trail it takes a big leap towards the center in the hope that it will find a clean area that needs filled.

Parallax Snail Clock

A snail travels along the ground on a path where the current time enters the picture just as the minute changes. The background simulates depth by faking parallax. The hight of the hills and mountains and the color of the grass are controlled by a type of Perlin noise.

Snail Destination Clock

An escargatoire of snails come together in the middle of a field to create the digits of the current time. Unfortunately, a hungry bird comes by and catches them off guard.

Falling Shells Clock

Many snail shells (each, one of two colors) are dropped from above and fall down through a Plinko style board. When they come to rest, their final arangement shows the current time. MAGIC! (The secret is to run the simulation once while not displaying it to find the final position of the shells, decide their colors, and then run the identical sim again with the calculated colors.)

Hypnosnails Clock

The eyes of two hypnosnails will take over your mind while displaying the time. Every digit is made from many connected points that create the digit outline. Over time, those points are morphed from their position in the previous time's digit to their position in the next time's digit. The morphing has some Perlin noise applied to keep your mind open to suggestion.

Space Snail Party Clock

Snails are out for a space party, orbiting their favorite point. As they move around, they take up positions so that you will see the current time when they line up properly once per minute. Snails in the back must be careful so that, when it's not yet their time to shine, they will be eclipsed by their friends in front.

Psychedelic Abstract Clock

The snail has asked 3 of its friends, a duck, a sheep, and a robot, to help it tell the time. Each sits on the end of a clock hand (hour, minute, second, millisecond) but instead of revolving around the center of the clock, each hand revolves around the tip of the hand slower than itself. The 4 friends may have consumed some mind altering substance before producing this clock. Groovy!

SASA Control Room Clock

Following their heros of NASA's Apollo 11 Mission, the snails have embarked on a mission of their own. The live transcript includes the current time and the orbit display shows the snail-craft's current position as it orbits the Earth once per hour. The transcripts are generated with a size 2 ngram Markov chain extracted from the Apollo 11 transcripts.

World Snail Eclipse Clock

All the universe is carried on the back of The World Snail, Asteriskia Manua. This fact is usually hidden from our everyday experience but on special occasions (like once per hour) the curtain is pulled back and the truth is revealed. This is mostly just an exercise in learning more about Three.js, using the graphing calculator at desmos.com to come up with good equations to represent behaviors, and simulating one of the most spectacular events I've ever witnessed, a solar eclipse.