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Blank-o-Matic Wake Up
Blank-o-Matic is just the thing for those of us who work on our websites until late, and then must rise in a timely fashion the next day.
(Blank-o-Matic)
EH Burneleit and Katrin Lutkemoller have worked out an alarm system and bed that will not only provide you with a wake-up call, but will also pull down the covers. No longer cozy, you will get up - at least, that's the theory.
I know that some of you find this unnecessary; you rise each morning with a song on your lips, ready for the day. I, on the other hand, was forced to put my alarm clock across the room as early as junior high school.
I think that there have been science fiction authors with similar problems. For example, Larry Niven wrote about a mattress sleep sensor in his 1981 story Dream Park:
Ten minutes earlier he had been snoring in his apartment at the Cowles Modular Community, with the alarm buzzing in his ears. The third time it went off, it would refuse to shut up until his 190 pounds were lifted from the sensor in the mattress.
(Read more about Niven's mattress sleep sensor)
If you want to go all the way with this blanket concept, check out the (slightly creepy) Robotic Blanket project that could tuck you in as well as slide off. Sleepy students may prefer the mattress alarm. And I can't resist pointing you to one of my favorites, the scent-based alarm clock.
For those more worried about falling asleep with the lights on, take a look at Lucent's DVR Sleep Detector patent or the automated Sleep Room. Found this one at interaction design via WMMNA.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 7/8/2006)
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