All posts filed under: Things for Waking

Sense Sleep Tracker

The Sense sleep tracker from Hello, which begins shipping to consumers next month, raised an astounding $2.4 million on Kickstarter in August to become the 6th most funded tech campaign in the crowdfunding site’s history. Taking a different approach to “wearables” that can only track your sleep patterns when they are on your body, Sense is intended to fade into the background and let you just focus on the task at hand — sleeping. The design of the polycarbonate shell was inspired by architecture, in fact Sense resembles a little egg that would have rolled out of Beijing’s iconic “birds nest” Olympic stadium. Sense comes with a little device called a Sleep Pill that attaches to your pillow and invisibly tracks your sleep movements at night. In case you were wondering, the manufacturer says that the unit “absolutely does not” track movements related to sex. The unit’s high-precision sensors are so sensitive, however, they are able to identify noise (from snores in your bedroom to car alarms on the street); pick up on light disturbances; monitor temperature and humidity conditions; and even see particulates in …

The Alarming Clock

The Alarming Clock, created by Scottish designers Natalie Duckett and Lee Murray, is a reinvention of the typical alarm clock. When the morning alarm is programmed, the evening alarm is automatically set to signal nine hours ahead to remind you when it’s time to start unwinding for bed. The clock’s face remains hidden on the base of the alarm so all you see is a little wooden box with a beak in the middle. Handcrafted from natural oak, the Alarming Clock has passed CE safety testing. In place of the typical (and dreaded) electric buzz, the alarm signal is mechanically created to imitate the sound of a woodpecker tapping against a tree. Placing the small wooden “beak” against different surfaces or objects (say a glass of water, a book cover, or a metal box) alters the sound. To shut off the alarm you simply touch the top, and when no alarm is required, you just remove the beak and the alarm is silenced. The clocks are currently only available in Europe with a 4 to 8 week lead time, but if there is …