Comments on: Brilliant.

Brilliant.

XQUZYPHYR — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 09:07:32 -0800

Clocky. An MIT student has designed an alarm clock with built-in wheels and motion sensors. Upon hitting the snooze button, Clocky will roll of your nighttable, bump around your room, and hide, forcing you to have to get up and look for him instead of hitting the button again.

By: jba

jba — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 09:10:31 -0800

awesome. I need this.

By: mailhans

mailhans — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 09:12:29 -0800

nice! and how about this one

By: fshgrl

fshgrl — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 09:17:52 -0800

That looks like a really good idea. For a single person.

By: LeeJay

LeeJay — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 09:19:32 -0800

I need this. I really, really need this. I like the hanging clock too, but the MIT student is right - the glowing ball I'll bat across the room like a cat toy. It will be broken in two days. The little fuzzy, ugly Clocky I'd probably put up with for a while.

By: SemiSophos

SemiSophos — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 09:28:39 -0800

The one problem I see with this is that the source of the alarm's sound moves away once Snooze is pressed. One design I saw that I thought was particularly ingenious was an alarm clock that could only be turned off by placing a specially weighted golf ball in a basket on its base. Whenever it would go off, it would tip its basket and send the golf ball rolling off to some random location in your room. Same concept as Clocky, but simpler and it keeps the annoying alarm as close to the sleeper's face as possible.

By: TheDonF

TheDonF — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 09:31:24 -0800

Nice. I need one of those. I wonder if it works on carpets; if not could they build one with caterpillar tracks? And something that copes with the clothes I leave strewn everywhere?

By: dfowler

dfowler — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 09:34:20 -0800

Thanks for this. *scratches "Clocky" off list of possible pseudonyms*

By: quiet

quiet — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 09:35:48 -0800

also see slashdot

By: Gyan

Gyan — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 09:45:02 -0800

Video, please?

By: shoppingforsanity

shoppingforsanity — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 09:59:22 -0800

Awwwww, man. I was about to post this - bastard. As for the clock - I would toss it out the window after a couple of days, for sure. I'm not a morninng person and a rousing game of hide-n-seek with the damn alarm clock would REALLY piss me off.

By: scody

scody — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 10:30:32 -0800

AWESOME. I need this so badly, says the girl who lives 2 blocks away from work, and still manages not to make it in till 10 every morning...

By: fenriq

fenriq — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 10:49:45 -0800

Saw this the other day and I like the idea but it would probably be alot healthier and less annoying to just go to bed earlier.

By: scratch

scratch — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 10:59:57 -0800

My cat does all this and more.

By: Down10

Down10 — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 11:10:51 -0800

Clocky must die.

By: cmyk

cmyk — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 11:11:13 -0800

It would drive my dogs insane. I'd love to see that.

By: strangeleftydoublethink

strangeleftydoublethink — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 11:44:20 -0800

My two-year-old does the trick for me.

By: 27

27 — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 11:56:54 -0800

Coming soon to a Brookstone near you: Carpet-safe, anti-Clocky landmines for your bedroom. Also - what shoppingforsanity and Down10 said.

By: diftb

diftb — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 12:12:44 -0800

The developer is actually a researcher at the MIT Media Labs, not a student. (Hey, what's mefi without pedantry?) Very cool nonetheless.

By: BlackLeotardFront

BlackLeotardFront — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 12:48:46 -0800

But does it cuddle afterwards?

By: exceptinsects

exceptinsects — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 13:11:22 -0800

You know, rather getting one of these fancy newfangled MIT alarm clocks you could just put the one you already have across the room so you have to get out of bed and turn it off.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 13:20:57 -0800

It would make for great target practice.

By: m39

m39 — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 13:31:25 -0800

nice, but an IR sensor would allow clocky to orient towards your sleeping body and spray you with a squirt gun. A little tape recorded cackle might be good too.

By: sninky-chan

sninky-chan — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 14:37:45 -0800

Why go half-hog? The problem as I see it is this: people *think* they want to wake up, but when push comes to shove, when the alarm goes off, they really don't. So there are two possible solutions: 1) impose your will on your future self and cause wakefulness directly, or 2) make your future self want to get up. For 1): Your new wakeup device "Tyler Durden" shoots you with a minuscule dart tipped with adrenochrome. Refills available by mail, write Gonzo & Gonzo, General Delivery, Queretaro, MX. For 2): Alarm clocks were never like this. A robot arm with infrared sensors seeks out and tweaks your nipple -- hard! Our new wakeup device "Titty Twister" ensures that yes, you really *do* want to get up.

By: floanna

floanna — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 14:56:41 -0800

Blimey I need a clocky! I have to have 5 alarm clocks when I have to get up at 5.30am for my early shifts. I have one of those bell alarms and the arm that turns it off is broken. I have to physically pick it up from the other side of the bed and shove it under the pillow to stop it from ringing. I'm a deep sleeper and not a morning person and needless to say I've slept through all 5 alarms many a time!

By: blendor

blendor — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 15:32:28 -0800

I'll take one of these, too.

By: radioamy

radioamy — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 16:51:02 -0800

"You know, rather getting one of these fancy newfangled MIT alarm clocks you could just put the one you already have across the room so you have to get out of bed and turn it off." I do that. And I still turn the effing thing off.

By: Gyan

Gyan — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 16:52:51 -0800

That Sleeptracker thing that blendor linked to, if it works well, is a much better solution than clocky.

By: tiamat

tiamat — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 17:14:10 -0800

In a similar vein, I seem to remember something about a blanket with optics in it that would simulate dawn. Slowly raising the (full spectrum) light level until it woke you naturally.

By: johnj

johnj — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 18:19:45 -0800

For 2): Alarm clocks were never like this. A robot arm with infrared sensors seeks out and tweaks your nipple -- hard! Our new wakeup device "Titty Twister" ensures that yes, you really *do* want to get up. mmmmmm . . . .alarm clock

By: arcticwoman

arcticwoman — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 19:43:24 -0800

Thanks blendor... I have to save up for a Sleeptracker now!

By: elf_baby

elf_baby — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 20:17:30 -0800

Clocky's just a silly clock, playing silly clock games! If it can grow legs and move around, what's stopping it from changing its settings? Or killing us in our sleep?

By: blendor

blendor — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 21:29:26 -0800

That Sleeptracker thing that blendor linked to, if it works well In the article linked from gizmodo, they give the Sleeptracker a very favorable review, but there are also some very harsh criticisms for it in the comments... Regardless, if I had the money, I would totally get one, just to see if it worked.

By: Mr. Gunn

Mr. Gunn — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 21:47:01 -0800

This thing has made slashdot, MeFi, and I don't know how many other blogs. It's a freaking carpeted clock on wheels! What about this has so captured the attention of the geeks?
Read the bio of it's inventor, BTW, she sounds like the kind of person who would invent something like that.

_{_{which I think is cool}}

By: Gyan

Gyan — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 21:55:52 -0800

blendor, didn't see the comments first time around. I don't see criticisms of the functionality, rather, of the design and build quality. Contrary to the company's claims, the patent's not been approved yet, only submitted, although legally that might be leeway for promotion. Here's the patent submission for anyone interested in the technicalities.

By: sophist

sophist — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 22:49:57 -0800

Zen Alarm Clock. Same idea yet, but with sound, as tiamat mentioned. Slowly increasing sound which wakes you up slowly rather than immediately. The main problem with most clocks is that it just *wham* wakes you up. Slowly drawing you out of your sleep is much healthier and less likely to result in broken alarms.

By: Chunder

Chunder — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 00:53:06 -0800

Why should it be so complicated? All that's really needed is a clock with some kind of keypad, or perhaps four (or so) snooze buttons. The first snooze can be initiated by pressing any one button. Subsequent snoozes require a more complex series of the buttons to be pressed - preferably a random sequence, maybe something like the "Simon Says" game from the 80's... At university, when I really had to ensure that I got up on time, I'd put my alarm clock - the type with a proper bell inside - in the (ceramic) sink in my room. Not much chance that *anyone* could sleep through that... having to get up to go across the room was enough to wake up, let alone the adrenaline rush from the fright of the noise :-)

By: dreish

dreish — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 07:17:05 -0800

I've always had problems with staying up and sleeping in too late. I've had good results with this combination: I use a radio across the room that turns on 45 minutes before I get up, and a standard beeping alarm clock next to my bed. The radio wakes me up gradually (and keeps me awake, since I want to pay attention to Morning Edition), and the bedside alarm clock nags me to get out of bed and go to the shower (where I can continue listening to the news on another radio). I used to use a program I'd written that would play progressively louder and more annoying sounds. It was a cron job, so I had to find the pid of the program and kill it to stop the alarm clock. That worked well also, especially when the computer was in another room, but I find my new method is a less anxiety-inducing way to wake up (unless the morning's news is especially bad). Also helpful: working with people whose company you enjoy.

By: Megafly

Megafly — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 08:25:28 -0800

I think a keypad where you have to enter the digitally displayed, randomly generated, code number would do the trick for me