Innovation

Watch that can predict your death to the nearest second

Users fill out a questionnaire about their medical history before subtracting their age from the overall results to get their death score. This score is entered into the Tikker and the countdown begins. The 'death watch', Tikker has been created by Swedish inventor Fredrik Colting but far from being morbid, Colting calls it 'The Happiness Watch' and claims it has been designed to help people make the most of their life and cherish the time they have left.

To set up Tikker, the wearer fills out a questionnaire by entering information about their medical history. They are also asked whether they drink or smoke and if there are any instances of cancer, diabetes and other diseases in their family.

Wearers are additionally asked about how much exercise they do, as well as how much they weigh before receiving a score.

Their age is then deducted from the results to predict a death date, and the Tikker begins the countdown. The top row of the watch's digital display shows years, months and days, while the second row counts down hours, minutes and seconds. The bottom row shows the local time. 'From years to seconds it presents time ever moving, never standing still, and our lives dwindling towards the final rest,' said Cotling.

'The occurrence of death is no surprise to anyone, but in our modern society we rarely talk about it. I think that if we were more aware of our own expiration I’m sure we’d make better choices while we are alive.'