Like LEDs through the hourglass...

Proving once again that there are few things that can't be made better with LEDs, Dhananjay Gadre of the Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology has whipped up this flashy take on the venerable hourglass, with plans already in the works for an improved version. In its current state, the LED hourglass less-than-accurately imitates falling sand, with a Z-axis accelerometer able to detect when it's been flipped over (we're guessing that top bit detaches). Planned improvements include a more accurate LED lighting pattern, and enclosing the whole thing in a perspex tube to make it a little more presentable. Until then, however, you can check out the prototype version in action in the video after the break.