AliceAre you forever annoying your partner with your early morning alarm and triple snooze routine, or vice versa? Help is on the way!
Wakē from Lucera Labs is a Kickstarter-funded smartphone-enabled robot that is designed to live on your bedroom wall, positioned over the head of the bed.
The way it works is to direct gentle beams of light and sound (via a parametric speaker) to the specified sleeper which should gently rouse them, all the while letting the other person sleep in.
“What is a parametric speaker?” I hear you cry!
Essentially, parametric speakers use highly directional ultrasonic waves that interact to create a very narrow audible beam. Lucera Labs has even gone as far as to file a US patent on the use of a targeted parametric speaker for use in a waking device.
Why Beams of Light?
According to Lucera Labs’ research, light exposure helps you to wake up faster, all signs seeming to point to that fact that ‘dawn simulators’ reduce morning grogginess and help winter-haters cope with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).
Wakē comes with its own smartphone App, where the user tells Wakē which side of the bed they typically sleep on and when they want to wake up.
When its time to wake up, Wakē silently rotates from side to side, while its infrared sensor measures the body heat below.
Even if you are lying close to your partner, Wakē sees an accurate temperature graph and can pinpoint where you are.
Once its job is done and you’ve woken up, Wakē will reposition itself should you roll over and it will even turn itself off when you get up.
Simple to set up, all a user need do is install Wakē, set up the App and it’s done.
Wakē is installed in a similar way to a smoke detector, whereby the bracket is screwed into the wall above the headboard, batteries are inserted and the device is clicked into a bracket.
Already gaining traction, Wakē has already raised £51,602 of its £66,400 total on Kickstarter, although the page states that this project will only be funded if at least £66,419.81 ($100,000) is pledged by May 30 2015 2:00 PM BST.
The team behind Wakē decided to invent the product after realising that today’s wake-up devices, be it a smartphone or clock radio, are all based round the concept of an alarm clock a device invented in the 19th century.
“Year’s later and we’re still loosing sleep to a partner’s alarm, getting jolted by the sudden blare of a buzzer, or oversleeping because we pressed the wrong button,” says Lucera Labs in a company statement.
“We are indeed working very hard on making Wakē something more than just an alarm clock,” Lucera Labs’ founder Will Russell tells CE Pro Europe.
“Its Wi-Fi connected processor will enable it to become an essential component in the growing ecosphere of home automation products. With the ability to sense when you’re in bed and when you’ve risen, Wakē can provide important queues for smart HVAC systems, coffee makers, door locks, interior and exterior lighting, or automotive pre-starting.
“There’s just so much more that bedroom technology can offer the world besides another sleep tracker,” he points out.
“Lucera Labs was formed to help change the way the world wakes up, but we also think there’s an exciting future just around the corner that involves friendly and trustworthy computers placed in our bedrooms.”
Will reveals that that plenty of other possibilities are also only a firmware update away, such as the ability to adjust a person’s wake up time based on traffic conditions on their route to work, or to serve private notifications of phone calls or texts.
Will confirms that Wakē will begin shipping in September 2015, adding that people in the UK and Europe can pledge on Kickstarter to receive one of the very first units that are manufactured.
Can Wakē be integrated with home automation platforms such as Control4, Crestron and AMX?
CE Pro Europe puts the question to Will, who discloses that the company is actively examining home automation standards as potential stretch goals in its crowd funding campaign.
“Our Wi-Fi connected processor and open architecture will allow for existing smart home devices and protocols,” he adds.
Why should people wake up with Wakē?
“Wakē is an attempt to bring smart and talented technology to our bedrooms – with the aim to significantly improve the way we start each day,” Will shares.
“We’re not just another so-called sleep tracker, Wakē uses clever robotics and modern sensors to deliver peaceful and personal wake ups each morning that don’t disturb everyone in the room. In the future, Wakē will serve as a personal digital assistant that will be able to whisper reminders of important meetings or inform you of adverse traffic conditions as you wake up.”
Any questions…?
Any Questions?
Can Wakē violate my privacy?
Before creating Wakē, Lucera Labs made itself a promise that “no device should ever compromise your privacy in the bedroom – ever.”
Lucera Labs is proud to announce that it has taken this pledge seriously, which is why Wakē has absolutely no cameras, no microphones or no other sensor that could collect sensitive information about a sleeper.
Wakē’s ability to sense its environment is limited to an analogue photo-resistor that measures light levels and its single-pixel IR sensor.
To find your position in bed, Wakē swings this IR sensor from side to side, producing a single line of temperatures inside the pillow area. This temperature profile is also limited in its resolution, meaning it can’t reveal bodily features.
Is Wakē’s parametric speaker safe for my ears?
In short, yes. Wakē’s parametric speaker emits ultrasound waves at levels far below federally issued safety thresholds. Lucera Labs insists that no user has ever reported discomfort from Wakē ultrasound, adding: “our pets don’t seem to notice either!”
What are some things that could possibly interfere with Wakē?
Lucera Labs is honest and advises that Wakē might not work so well if you allow pets to sleep on your pillow, have small children in bed, or if you use electric blankets.
These things could confuse Wakē’s IR sensor and make it difficult to locate you.
Is Wakē scientifically proven to be more effective than traditional alarm clocks?
Lucera Labs insists that several peer-reviewed studies suggest that using ‘dawn simulators’ as alarm clocks help you wake up feeling more alert and less groggy.
Other studies have suggested these devices even help combat Seasonal Affectiveness Disorder (SAD).
It’s too early to tell if Wakē can accomplish similar feats, but the company is eager to find out.
What if I loose my smartphone or its batteries run out?
Fear not, as Wakē can function autonomously, and while you need a smartphone to snooze, it can still wake you up and detect when you’ve got out of bed.
What if Wakē’s batteries die and I oversleep?
Ever prepared, the Wakē App will alert you when batteries are running low. If not recharged soon, its wake up melody will include tones that remind you to.
If all else fails, the Wakē App functions as a traditional alarm if it detects Wakē has completely run out of batteries.
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