The diverse forms of true or pseudo-time crystallinity will drive the development of materials with fundamentally interesting and technologically useful emergent nonlinear phenomena, like the one described here.

Indeed, our findings suggest that spontaneous symmetry breaking in both time and space can be a widespread occurrence in numerous open systems, whether in a quantum or in a classical context.

On the other hand, the fact that time crystal states can occur in LCs with a myriad of technological uses under conditions compatible with many technological needs may suggest new breeds of electro-optic and photonic devices.

Potential technological applications in optical devices, photonic space-time crystal generators, telecommunications and anti-counterfeiting designs may signal the beginning of an exciting frontier for time and space-time crystals, where fundamental research advances could drive technological utility.