Facebook Invents New Unit of Time Dubbed a “Flick”

As if the founders of Facebook didn’t morph the way we internet enough, they have now invented a new measurement of time. Created by engineer Christopher Horvath,the new unit, or “Flick” was designed to help developers keep video effects in sync. According to GitHub[1], the new measurement represents 1/705,600,000 of a second, making it the smallest time unit which is larger than a nanosecond.

Impressive.

Matt Hammond, lead research engineer at the BBC Research and Development department, says the new system will help reduce errors. “When the numbers used are not integers [whole numbers], errors can gradually creep into computer calculations. These errors can build up over time, eventually causing inaccuracies that become noticeable.”.[2]

In visual effects work, Flicks is especially helpful for artists and programmers alike by allowing them to accumulate subdivisions in the programming math to create exact frame and second intervals. For example, instead of using 24 frames-per-second (1/24 of a second), producers can now divide the frame rate into flicks and come out with a nice, round number.

For VR enthusiasts, this could be a major factor when creating new, simulated worlds. Thanks, Facebook.

[1]

https://github.com/OculusVR/Flicks

[2]

http://www.theweek.co.uk/facebook/91188/facebook-invents-new-unit-of-time