Apartment Therapy Unplugged | What is This Gadget and What Does it Do?

We spotted this pretty stellar camouflaged home office on Lifehacker, belonging to reader MacintoshDZNR. The office itself is great and unique, but we couldn't help but stare at the low-budget-movie spaceship lights on the far end of the desk. Surely there had to be a purpose for the colorful display besides the obviously geeky aesthetics. Thankfully, commenters on the Lifehacker page had the same question and tracked it down...

It's the TIX Led Clock from Think Geek!

It might look confusing at first, but the idea behind the clock is simple and we'd bet it only takes a little while to get used to this new way of reading the time. The four different-colored grids can be read just like the four digits of a digital clock. However many LEDs are lit up in each grid is what the digit should read in that spot. So 1 red, 2 green, 3 blue and 4 red is 12:34.

You can set the TIX Clock to remain static or it can shift the lit blocks around the grid every second, every four seconds or every minute for both more accurate timekeeping and also to really drive home that "70s TV show space ship" look, as one Lifehacker commenter called it.

The TIX Clock comes in two brushed metal finishes, black and silver, and can sit on a desk or be wall-mounted either horizontally or vertically.

Both colors are out of stock right now, but you can start saving up your $39.99 and sign up for email alerts whenever the TIX clock becomes available again.