The Overview Effect calendar: the full story
Why the overview effect calendar?The Wide Time calendar focuses on bringing an overview of life events rather than looking at your busy day-to-day agendas.Inspired by astronauts' psychology observed in Space I apply these principles on Earth, giving a calendar that helps you foster your perception of time. But how did it all start?
Background
Before being inspired by Space, I had doubted for many years the mass adoption of the solar calendar as a measuring unit. I never understood why people were making new year’s resolutions in December.
What was changing between December and January, to also change people's motivation?
It was still the same winter season, the same school year, the same volleyball tournament season.
As humans, our behaviour is influenced by the context, the weather and the society we live in.
We have calendars to measure that. We have Gregorian calendars, lunar calendar, school calendars, financial calendars.
Questions
But what if we looked at how we perceive time by the experiences we’ve had?
In that case we need have a human-centred calendar: a calendar that measures our perception of time.
Time is a mental construct. We measure it by the things we remember. Our memories.
Why do we measure life through a linear timeline, rather than a non-linear width according to how intensly we experience life?
Our first kiss. Graduating from university. The passing of a family member. Our first house.
Problem
The problem is that people are researching how to extend life, when instead it should be widened.
There is plenty of research on how to extend life for longevity, but there is little research on widening life for amplevity: the ability to live life in greater width.
For this reason, I started by creating a prototype.
Then, created a new time unit. A human-centred time unit: wide time. Focused on propelling the perception of time by creating new experiences.
With this human-centred calendar, we are on a mission to widen life, to improve amplevity: living in width.
We measure the width of life, not the length.
Inspired by Space, designed for humans
Designing for the Overview Effect > Zoom out
Focus on the bigger picture, let go of the details and try to identify the patterns of your place in the world.
In Space, astronauts experience the "overview effect". In the dark void of Space they only see the interconnected ecosystem, not the barriers of religion, politics, colors.
Designing for Space-time relativity > Measure time in width
Measure time vertically in width, ie. the intensity of an experience, rather than the conventional quantity of time (eg. 1 hour)
Einstein theorized that time goes slower the closer to a strong gravitational field. This discovery and its visual represention has revolutionized the world, despite the effect on humanity being too small to be perceived.
Designing for thriving not just surviving > Amplevity
From Latin amplitudinem "wide extent, width". Prioritize amplevity over longevity. Focus on living a wider life, increasing memorable and intense stories to break the monotony of life.
Astronauts living in space have a home that is just a laboratory. Sterile. Cables. Machines.
There is no horizon. No natural light. No gravity. No circadian rhythms. It is impossible to get a sense of time. Astronauts follow clocks to communicate with the mission control centre, but as time passes on long-term mission astronauts detach more and create their own points of reference to refer to time, e.g. "before the toilet broke", "after the toilet broke" (yes, a broken toilet in space becomes a huge problem)
Designing for humans > Human-centred seasons
When you have good self-awareness, building a schedule of change that fits your self-development is more effective, customizable and exciting.
Astronauts experience 16 sunrises and sunsets every 24 hours. The events inside the space shuttle determine time.