You ever step into a subway station and just know what time it is—not because you checked your phone, but because the crowd (or lack thereof) tells you everything? That’s the magic of urban timekeeping. TurnsTime explores this phenomenon by using real subway ridership data to reveal how we unconsciously measure time through movement.

This interactive installation features two turnstiles, each representing a different type of subway station: A residential borough station – busiest in the morning as people head into the city.A commercial district station – chaos in the evening as everyone escapes their 9-to-5.

These turnstiles spin and tick in real-time based on actual MTA ridership data, giving physical form to the city’s daily rhythms—from the sleepy morning rush to the frantic evening exodus.

The Inspiration and The passion 

We tend to think of time as something rigid—measured by clocks, alarms, and the painful wait for a delayed train. But in reality, time is felt. It’s in the hush of an early morning commute, the electric buzz of a Friday night rush hour, the eerie emptiness of a late-night station.

How does a city tell time? How do we instinctively know it’s 8 AM just by the number of coffee-fueled zombies on the platform? By comparing two stations—one residential, one commercial—TurnsTime makes visible the hidden rhythms of the city and the way time unfolds through movement.

How It Works

• NYC Open Data’s MTA Hourly Ridership dataset drives turnstile motion, syncing it with real-world subway flows.
• Patterns change by day—Mondays move differently than Sundays, and Friday nights? Pure chaos.
• The city as a clock: Instead of hands on a watch, the pulse of commuters marks the hours.

Why It Matters

TurnsTime isn’t just a cool visualization—it’s a reminder that time isn’t just numbers on a clock. It’s deeply tied to our environment, our routines, and the way we move through shared spaces. This project turns subway data into something tangible, poetic, and just a little hypnotic—because whether we realize it or not, we all move to the same invisible metronome.

Problem:

How can we represent the passage of time through human movement rather than traditional clock mechanisms?

Process:

• Data Processing: Partnered with Christina Tang, who managed data collection and analysis using Python. The dataset, sourced from MTA’s 2023 ridership data, was normalized for weekday trends.
• Design & Fabrication: Designed and 3D-modeled a miniature turnstile system that mimics real-world subway turnstiles. Engineered a ratchet mechanism to replicate authentic subway sounds.
• User Interaction: Enabled users to select different times of the day (Monday–Friday) via a web interface, updating the Raspberry Pi-powered turnstile movements accordingly.
• Sound Design: Integrated mechanical sound elements to reinforce the turnstile’s connection to real-life subway experiences, enhancing engagement and realism.

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Solution:

A kinetic sculpture that translates subway ridership data into turnstile movements, allowing users to experience time through the flow of people rather than a traditional clock.

Outcome:

• Exhibition Success: Over 500 participants interacted with the installation across exhibitions, generating discussions about public transportation and intuitive time perception.
• User Feedback: Visitors were fascinated by the concept, suggesting future iterations incorporating real-time data and multiple station selection.
• Technical Achievement: Successfully mapped historical transit data into a physical computing system, overcoming fabrication challenges related to fitting motors and mechanisms in a miniature form factor.

This project blends data visualization, physical computing, and interaction design to reimagine timekeeping through urban mobility patterns.

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Exhibited

We get the opportunity to exhibited in Horological Society of New York for the theme of "Time" and at Wikipedia day 2025 under the theme of "Data in NYC".

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