Smart alarm clock only wakes up one side of the bed

Wakē is a wall-mounted device that connects to a smartphone and uses focused sound and light to gently awaken its target sleeper.

Innovators are constantly trying to find a more enjoyable way of waking people up. We have seen iwaku — a smartphone-connected lamp that detects light sleep phases — and Uniqlo Wake Up, which takes day, time and weather into account when choosing wake-up music for its user. Now, Wakē from Lucera Labs offers a gentle, healthy alternative to the jolt of the traditional alarm clock.

Wakē is a wall-mounted device which connects to the sleeper’s smartphone and uses a body heat sensor to detect their exact position. The alarm then lures the user out of their slumber with focused beams of light and gentle sound, which grow gradually louder and brighter. Wakē integrates parametric speakers which enable the device to focus sound towards a single person in a narrow audible beam, meaning the user’s partner can carry on sleeping.

Users interact with the alarm via a smartphone app, which allows them to specify which side of the bed they sleep on, what time they want the alarm to go off and how gently or forcefully they want to be woken. They can also snooze via the app and Wakē can detect when they have gotten out of bed, at which point it will automatically turn off.

Wakē is currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter, where pledgers can pre-order the device for USD 249. The smart alarm has already surpassed its USD 100,000 goal, allowing Lucera Labs to work on a number of additional features. Those features could be made possible by integrating If This Then That and Nest compatibilities, and assimilating the device into the Internet of Things. Potential developments include using the device to alert caregivers if elderly users don’t return to bed in the middle of the night or piping baby’s cries only to the parent on feeding duties. How else could Wakē be used?