When the Alarm Clock Runs and Hides

bbbbryan writes to tell us about the commercialization of the elusive alarm clock prototyped at the MIT Media Lab a couple of years back. This alarm clock actually runs, hides from you, and beeps to ensure that you'll be awake enough not to go back to sleep by the time you find it and get it shut up. Detroit News has a writeup on the device, which you can buy from the inventor's site for $50.

Some youtube of the clock in action

[adamstew (909658)]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvNGnkY_S6I [youtube.com]

Enjoy!

Re:Some youtube of the clock in action

[kestasjk (933987)]

So you wake up, groggily stumble out of bed and tread on your alarm clock, which is basically a half-roller-skate, you slip and your forehead smashes your china lamp...

Coffee for me I think. (ahahar)

shock

[Lehk228 (705449)]

wouldn't it be cheaper to wire a capacitor to your snooze button?

Re:shock

[z0idberg (888892)]

Sort of similar theme, I like this one. [engadget.com]
You have to diffuse the bomb to stop the alarm. Gets your brain woring so (hopefully) you are wide awake by the time you turn it off and dont go back to sleep. I can't see this one surviving a bad hangover though.

Re:shock

[Bloke down the pub (861787)]

You have to diffuse the bomb to stop the alarm.

My eyesight's already pretty soft-focus when I wake up.

I claim prior art

[JonTurner (178845)]

>>This alarm clock actually runs, hides from you, and beeps to ensure that you'll be awake enough not to go back to sleep by the time you find it and get it shut up.

Also known as kids. Though mine tend to scream rather than beep.

Re:I claim prior art

[evilviper (135110)]

Also known as kids. Though mine tend to scream rather than beep.

Odd... My kids only beep.

Perhaps I should look into that...

Re:shock

[jeff4747 (256583)]

wouldn't it be cheaper to wire a capacitor to your snooze button?

You'd be surprised what a 'night person' is willing to sleep through. Electric shock? No problem. Much less painful than waking up before noon.

Second Amendment

[Philotic (957984)]

A very valid reason for preserving the second amendment.

$50 per use will get expensive

[EmbeddedJanitor (597831)]

When you catch the friggin thing you will smash it to hell, so you'll need to buy a new one for the next use. Damn expensive!

Rather make one out of Lego Mindstorms. At lest then when you smash it, it only de-bricks and you can build it back together again!

Would be only a matter of time..

[priestx (822223)]

before I punt that motherf**ker out the window.

Re:Would be only a matter of time..

[Anarchitect_in_oz (771448)]

That's ok,...

Version 2 - Will have GPS to finds it's way back to your room before the next morning.

Sounds like...

[_Hellfire_ (170113)]

MMS' sentient alarm clock.

I was in a bar in Ensenada, drinking a warm beer quickly and trying to remind myself that I hadn't murdered anyone, when my alarm clock caught up with me. Little bastard.

More [randomhouse.com]

Why make it so difficult...

[Kjella (173770)]

I have an alarm clock for when I really really need to get up. There's no going back to sleep afterwards because you're either in cardiac arrest or wide awake, it lacks any concept of gentle wake-up and is only slightly less annoying than the smoke detector. To avoid the former I use my regular cell phone first, so I'm only slumbering or in light sleep when it goes off.

Re:Why make it so difficult...

[Lumpy (12016)]

My 15 year old stepson (who is now 23) had problems waking. so I built him an alarmclock that is very much like the one spongebob has.

I wired a foundry alarm klaxon to it. 115DB of unmuteable BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAPBT! the alarm clock was mounted to the wall across the room and had only 1 big red emergency shutdown button. if he did not get out of bed to his alarm and go over and press that button it went off.

The alarm went off only about 6 times before he was up in the morning on a regular basis. He took the alarm with him to college last time back. his response,"I have a pair of roommates that are incredibly lazy and will not get out of bed, so I always end up late to class as we car-pool."

I mentioned it was his car, he grinned and said, "No, this will do fine."

if you get the frequency low enough and loud enough there is not enough pillows to mute the sound to an acceptable level.

cat

[rahimobius (1087399)]

This might be more practical than strapping my alarmclock to my cat.

Prank Alarm Clock

[blurryrunner (524305)]

A combination of this idea could be combined with a prank a friend of mine pulled not too long ago.

He was studying computer engineering and doing stuff with embedded devices. He took a chip, a light sensor, and a small speaker and hid it in the room of one of his roommates. He programmed the device to sense when the lights went out and then it would sound off at full volume. The device would continue to sound until the lights came back on, at which time it would go silent. After the lights went out again, the timer would reset and the alarm would go off in another ten minutes...

-br

Re:Prank Alarm Clock

[Asmandeus (640419)]

And behold, at this time did mankind finally solve the ages old question of what exactly drives man to murder another.

So it was written.

Re:Prank Alarm Clock

[Frumious Wombat (845680)]

A modern, refined, version of the old flashbulb gag. Classic press-camera bulbs had standard screw-in bases like a normal lightbulb, but were filled with magnesium ribbon. So, you just go into someone's room/office (such as your sleeping roomie), unscrew the conventional bulbs, and put one of those suckers in. They wake up, flip the light switch, and it looks like a nuke went off in the room, after which it's mercifully dark so you can make your get-away. Someone should combine these two pranks, then report back.

Note: one of you. I'm older, married, and when married you discover that practical jokes on the roomie have different consequences than when in college.

Runs and hides...?

[Demerara (256642)]

...falls off the bedside locker and rolls about aimlessly more like.

This being /. I was expecting some real smart features such as:

o Learns the layout of your bedroom

o Jumps off the locker before it goes off

o Hides in the optimum place

o Doesn't hide in the same place twice

o Has a proximity sensor - runs away as you try to pick it up.

Based on the Yew-Toob clips, I reckon this gadget would last about 5 minuted in my house. It's simply too easy to hit with a stick.

Re:Runs and hides...?

[retro128 (318602)]

You noticed that too, eh? The thing does spend an inordinate amount of time repeatedly bumping into walls. That thing wouldn't get far in my house either. It'd just get caught on all the clothes on the floor and I'd end up stepping on it. I'll stick with my usual MO. Hit the snooze for 40 minutes and get up 10 minutes before I'm supposed to leave for work, take 10 minutes to get ready and somehow show up 15 minutes late. The boss once called me on it. I replied "Well, OK I can show up on time, but I'll leave at 5 sharp like everyone else around here.". Never heard about it again.

IT has its perks. I doubt I could be such a slovenly bastard in any other position.

Great if you have a totally tidy room

[Paul Crowley (837)]

In our room it would fall straight into a pile of clothing and stay there. This will be great for the sorts of people who have a hard time getting up but somehow manage to keep their bedrooms 100% tidy, but I suspect that the intersection of those two sets is small.

Cool

[iminplaya (723125)]

A Segway for my parakeet.

Re:WOOHOO!!!

[mjwx (966435)]

There already is a fast moving device that emits a loud annoying sound at the shopping centre (mall). They're called children.

Re:Best idea EVER

[AmiAthena (798358)]

I'm pretty sure they still make automatic timed coffee makers. I say "still" because I remember a while back (probably 10 years ago, now that I think of it) there were a few incidents with timer-equipped Mr. Coffee machines that helped you get up in the morning by burning down your house. Unfortunately they may have phased out that added functionality, and now you have to settle for waking up to the smell of fresh-brewed coffee in the morning without that pleasant furniture-roast aroma. The good features always disappear.