Product designer at the University of Dundee Jamie McMahon has produced The Acoustic Alarm, an alarm that wakes you up in the morning in a pleasant, less abrasive way than a beeping sound.
Inspired by various musical instruments, The Acoustic Alarm uses a rotational pick to pluck guitar strings to get you out of bed.
From the designer:
Human emotions are influenced by many factors, and one of these factors which annoys people the most is the sound of their morning alarm. The Acoustic Alarm scraps the annoying morning alarm, and replaces it with a relaxing acoustic tune, which has been designed for the user to customise the tone of their alarm by adjusting the tuning pegs. The Acoustic Alarm has been hand crafted from 2mm thick birch plywood, walnut and stainless steel. The body which is made from the birch plywood has been finished with a clear wax to keep the natural colour of the wood and to enhance the grain. The bridges, tuning pegs and string pick have been made from walnut to give a contrast in the shades of wood, as well as give strength to the pieces with most tension. The stainless steel knobs and switch give highlight to the product and make it clear that they control the alarm. The alarm is set by turning the steel knobs to the desired time (top for hours and bottom for minutes) and then flicking the switch to the ‘on’ position.
See a video on Jamie’s website.

4 Comments
Richard Slap on 04.30.2011 at 13:31 PM
Brilliant idea, but, uh, where do you set the actual time? You know, the clock part of the equation? Otherwise all I see is a fancy timer :/
Joe H on 05.02.2011 at 23:24 PM
Love the idea, but the problem isn’t necessarily the annoying beeping of alarms, but the fact that you’re being awakened from beautiful, wonderful sleep to face another day of drudgery.
I used to wake up to my favorite songs, but quickly realized that whenever I heard that song later it sound grating and irritating. I don’t think it matters what noise wakes you up in the morning, eventually you’ll want to kill it.
Jaime (post author) on 05.03.2011 at 08:47 AM
Good point!
Claire on 11.22.2011 at 19:22 PM
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing too Joe. But still, it’s great to wake up every morning to awesome music!
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