GLOBAL – The mobile phone has gradually nudged traditional buzzer off the bedside, with many of our handset’s built-in alarm clocks now on night duty.
The evolution of the mobile alarm clock is mirroring this subtle shift from the traditional wake-up routine, with innovative developments shining light through the curtains in the shape of a smart new app called HappyWakeUp. This S60 3rd Edition sliver of software doesn’t deliver the usual rude awakening, but instead monitors your sleep and wakes you up at the optimum moment to ensure you feel most refreshed. Hocus pocus or genius? Read on for more about this intriguing “arousal clock”.
Yes, that’s the other term the developers use for the HappyWakeUp app, as the perfect moment for waking up is called an “arousal” (okay, we’re not scientists). Now, it’s not silly and won’t simply wake you up at any time. The idea is that you set your alarm clock as normal, and it will wake you at some point in the 20 minutes before you have to wake up as within that time there will be a number of points in this “Alarm window” when you’ll feel most refreshed when “aroused”.
Here’s how it works, according to its creators:
“HappyWakeUp detects the optimal moment to wake up by monitoring the quality of your sleep using the microphone of the mobile phone. Actually it listens to your movements during the night time. Therefore the phone has to be near to you, preferably on your bed. Detection of the arousals is based on statistical analysis of the microphone signals.”
Sounds great, and like a genuinely useful innovation and completely original use for your handset’s microphone. We haven’t had a chance to test it out yet, but certainly will be over the coming weeks.
If you want to try it out, visit the HappyWakeUp site, and let us know how you get on with it and post your experiences below.
Photo from Chris Gin