Samsung Launches the First Watch Face for the Solar System

A special innovation has emerged from the collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the technology company Samsung: Galaxy Time – The watch face for our solar system. Do you know what time it is right now on Jupiter? Did you know that a day on Venus lasts 243 Earth days? Users of the watch face for smartwatches, such as the Galaxy Watch6 | Watch6 Classic, will be able to carry the real-time data of our solar system on their wrists in the future.  

From the scientific know-how that ESA has made available to Samsung's developers, something new has emerged. With a glance at their smartwatch, users of the Galaxy Time watch face can take a look beyond the horizon of our home planet into our planetary neighbourhood. The exact positions, distances, and times of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are calculated and displayed from ESA's real-time data. Of course, the current time on Earth can also be read.

The problems of humanity seem overwhelming right now. The Galaxy Time watch face broadens our horizon. Our Earth is part of a larger system. Our solar system and our galaxy. The earthly time that we experience as days, hours, and seconds does not apply to our neighbouring planets. Until now, this was an abstract concept that experts dealt with. Now, the planetary perspective change can be experienced by everyone.

ESA scientist, Dr. Melanie Heil, “We want to help people better understand our solar system and its complexity. It is important to look into the future, and to include the entire solar system beyond our planet. The planetary times make it possible to approach the understanding of the relative character of time and to broaden the horizon in everyday life.”

To achieve maximum precision, Samsung's developers rely on ESA's measurements. A minimalist design was derived from the data on the rotation speed and orbit of the eight planets around the sun. A separate dial had to be developed for each individual planet, as the days vary in length on each planet. With a glance at the smartwatch, the Galaxy Time watch face tells us what time it is right now on our neighbouring planets. In addition, it offers deeper insights into our solar system. For example, the distance of our neighbouring planets to the sun and to Earth, the number of their moons, their exact position, and the planetary seasons. 

Creative technologist, Viktor Kislovskij, “We basically had to rethink the concept of time and clocks. Because clocks are made for the time on Earth. Not for planets where a day lasts less than ten hours or much longer than on our home planet. The complex data were translated into a minimalist design. With the Galaxy Time watch face, we once again show what is possible with data. We are grateful for the collaboration with the scientists at ESA who made the project possible." 

Leo Burnett Germany in cooperation with MetaDesign Berlin is responsible for the creation. Galaxy Time watch faces are available on all smartwatches with the Wear OS operating system and is available in the Google Play Store.