Remember those moments on winter days when we gave out breath on windowpanes and wrote down our secrets? Messages written on the windowpanes became ephemeral with the momentary existence of the mist. Did anyone catch sight of our messages? Were our secrets left unsaid inside our heart or accidentally exposed to the next person who also attempted to leave an ephemeral message?

In this context of writing through the medium of mist produced by our breath, our team detects two interwoven forms of messages. Messages in the form of records are more lasting, such as an epigraph inscribed on a slate, whereas messages in the form of secrets are relatively ephemeral, which endure only for a brief time. Our work devises a writing pad, on which written messages will slowly become invisible like those inscriptions on the windowpanes. Differently, our writing pad is further devised to preserve the overlapping tracks of numerous messages, which enables the written messages to be traced or briefly brought up on the screen after disappearing for quite a while. The writing pad will change its condition of displaying according to the frequency of inscription. If the writing pad has not been used for a long period of time, dust will accumulate on its surface. Later if the user inscribes a message on the writing pad, the message will remain for a longer time before vanishing. At the end of a day, all the written messages will be rendered untraceable and the operation of the writing pad begins anew.

Our work expresses the idea that in terms of the limited time for retaining a message, if no one has ever spotted the message, it will become a secret buried deep in our innermost heart. On the other hand, if someone pays attention to the message in time before it dissolves, the message will suggest some clues that may bring forth certain information about people and events around us. The extent of concern for messages appearing in our surroundings may reflect the state of interrelationships among people. Prompt concern can lead to amicable relations while negligent regard may bring about coldness and distance.

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