Digital Sundial

This project was inspired by a memorable moment in a video featuring the late Queen Elizabeth II and Sir David Attenborough. While walking through a royal garden, Sir David Attenborough pointed out a beautifully crafted Sundial placed curiously under the shade of a tree. The Queen humorously remarked that "it might not have been in the shade originally". This highlights the irony of placing a sundial which needs sunlight to function in a shadowed spot.Watch on Youtube

That brief exchange sparked the idea for this project which is a digital sundial that could always track time, unaffected by cloudy skies or shady trees. The goal was to blend traditional, nature-based timekeeping with modern web technology using HTML, CSS JavaScript and DOM manipulation.

This Sundial is a digital simulation of traditional sundial with a twist and promotes user engagement. It functions like a clock by showing the current time based on the rotation of the Earth. However, it visualises time the same way a real sundial would by using a central stick (gnomon) which casts a shadow on hour lines arranged in a circle. This version uses code to cacuate the potion of the shadow based on the current time and selected timezone unlike a physical sundial that relies on sunlight.

Timezones

There are different timezones in the world. Your timezone will be determine by where you live. Six timezones have been referred to in this project. Therefore, for more information, visit Britannica and Wikipedia.