Designer clocks can make a good style statement for those who want to turn shabby walls into a fabulous collection of art. However, the main objective of the clock remains the same -- to tell you time. What about a clock whose job is not just to tell you what time it is, but also to help you improve your kid's math skills? Meet Albert, a digital clock that requires you to solve equations to calculate the time.
Named after Albert Einstein, Albert Clock is capable of turning math into a game, and a brain exercise for you and your kid. There are fairly easy equations -- limited to addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division -- to start with. However, they gradually get more difficult to solve as your kids get better with their math skills.
"Children enjoy racking their brains and making calculations when they're allowed to take a playful approach. The Albert Clock, however, isn't exclusively for kids: If you want to get the ALBERT CLOCK for your little ones because of its educational value you might soon as well take pleasure in being put to the test and having to figure out the correct time," according to the company's website.
The design
Designed by Axel Schindlbeck, Albert Clock comes in three colours -- red, grey and black. Although the pack also includes a detachable wall mount, the clock sits perfectly on a table. It is 35 cm wide, 15 cm high and 5 cm thick, and supports both 12h and 24h format that you can choose from the menu.
Albert Clock sports a simple, yet attractive design. It comes with just three buttons on its right – pressing the first one allows you to enter and skip through the menu while the other two let you modify the values in the menu. You can also press these two buttons directly to change the level of difficulty.
You can use the clock with 110 V and 220 V. But, it doesn't run on batteries. Even if you switch Albert off, it saves all settings for a period of approximately 48 hours.
How does it work?
Albert Clock breaks down the time into two lines -- hour on the top and minutes on the bottom. Each line has a math equation on it, which you need to solve to know the exact time. For instance, if Albert displays "12 – 4 hours and 25 + 5 minutes", you should read it as 8:30 am.
While the equations are random, and they change every minute of the day by default, you can adjust the frequency of the equations to as quickly as every 10 seconds. In addition, you can also set the level of difficulty from 1 to 6.
Take a look at the images below:
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Level 5
Level 6
Albert Clock comes with a price tag of 279 euros (about $335 or Rs. 21,551). Once ordered, it will be shipped between 10 to 15 business days, worldwide.
