Feel every moment. Live in full resolution.
Introduction
Time Grain measures your temporal resolution：how vividly you feel time passing. An ear clip captures biometric signals, the app reveals which hours you lived in, and the device silently restores you.
TIMELINE
Mar 2026 (48 hours)
TEAM
Sylvie Luo
Me
TOOL
Figma Make
Claude Code
Figma MCP
Google Studio
Jimeng
kEYWORD
Vibe Coding
AI Agent
BACKGROUND
Context
Time Grain is a speculative sensory design tool built in 48 hours at FigBuild 2026.
My role spanned product definition, research framing, and design direction — working across Figma, Claude Code, and Figma MCP to move from concept to coded prototype within the hackathon window.
01
Discover & Define
Hours that vanished while you were still awake. Not sleep, not distraction — your senses quietly went offline.
Google Scholar
Claude
02
Rapid Prototyping
Explore visual directions, gather inspiration, and establish the UI language through fast, low-stakes iteration.
Google AI Studio
Stitch
FigJam
03
Refine & Build
Polish the design and ship a production ready prototype using an AI-native development workflow.
Claude Code
+
Figma MCP
The question that started everything
"Wow, it's Friday already — what did I even do this week?"
That question is what Time Grain began with.
RESEARCH
Who: Urban knowledge workers, 25–38.
8+ hours a day in high-stimulation digital environments.
Urban knowledge
workers
Age: 25–38
Digital Environments
8+ hours / day in high-stimulation digital environments
Overstimulation
82% of millennials report overstimulation — 79% experience it weekly (BestTherapies, 2024)
Wearable Adoption
40% of adults aged 18–34 already own a wearable (Statista, 2024)
Gap: The Invisible Gap.
Your metrics are green. Your felt experience is grey.
Wearable today
Heart rate
Sleep quality
Steps & movement
HRV & stress score
Perceptual quality
Verdict: You're fine. ↗ But you don't feel fine.
What Time Grain adds
Heart rate
Sleep quality
Steps & movement
HRV & stress score
Perceptual quality ← new
How much of your day you actually experienced.
Hardware Rationale: Why the Ear, Not the Wrist
The data we need to compute temporal resolution requires four simultaneous signals. Only one location reliably captures all of them.
Data needed: PPG + EDA + Temp + Accel — simultaneously
Ear
✓ Selected
Most stable signal site.
Minimal motion artifact — stays in place during normal activity
Vascular-rich location.
Captures all 4 signals cleanly and simultaneously
Close to the autonomic nervous system.
Higher fidelity interoceptive signal
Wrist
✓ Selected
No EDA precision.
Skin conductance readings are unreliable at the wrist
Too much motion artifact.
Hand and arm movement contaminates the PPG signal
Cannot capture all 4 signals.
Missing data means incomplete temporal resolution model
CONCEPTING
What depletes your ability to feel time.
Interoception
Your body's system for sensing the present. When it's depleted, moments pass without registering.
Sensory Debt
High stimulation draws from a finite reserve. The debt builds invisibly — you only notice when perception goes flat.
Temporal Echo
Intense experiences linger. The meeting ended, but your nervous system hasn't — it colors whatever comes next.
What Does Our Design Do?
One continuous loop of awareness and recovery.
SEE
REFLECT
SHARPEN
System Architecture
Three devices, one continuous loop.
Ear Clip
Sense + Intervene
Phone
Analyze + Archive
Watch
Glance + Alert
FINAl DESIGN / PHYSICAL
FINAl DESIGN / DIGITAL
Daily Report See your day's highs and lows at a glance, and drill in to understand what shaped them.
Story Log Capture the context behind every peak and valley, distilled into a quick summary with AI.
Time Gallery Browse your full resolution history across any timeframe, from a single day to six months.
Sense Sharpening — Cardiac Entrainment When your time resolution dips, your AirClip quietly steps in to reawaken your senses — no action needed.