Health & Wellbeing

Proposed alarm clock would only wake users up once they were ready

Proposed alarm clock would only wake users up once they were ready
Indian scientists are working on an alarm clock that would monitor the user's brain activity, and wake them up only when they weren't in deep sleep (Photo: Pavel Sevela/Wikipedia Commons)
Indian scientists are working on an alarm clock that would monitor the user's brain activity, and wake them up only when they weren't in deep sleep (Photo: Pavel Sevela/Wikipedia Commons)
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Indian scientists are working on an alarm clock that would monitor the user's brain activity, and wake them up only when they weren't in deep sleep (Photo: Pavel Sevela/Wikipedia Commons)
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Indian scientists are working on an alarm clock that would monitor the user's brain activity, and wake them up only when they weren't in deep sleep (Photo: Pavel Sevela/Wikipedia Commons)

Have you ever noticed how your alarm clock sometimes wakes you up in a much more jarring fashion than usual? That's because on those occasions, you happen to be in one of the deeper states of sleep when it goes off. Not only is it more difficult to wake from these states, but people who do so also end up feeling less rejuvenated by their time in the sack. Scientists in India, however, think they may be on their way to designing an alarm clock that only wakes you up when the time is right.

There are five levels of brain activity that people vary between while sleeping, ranging from the relatively close-to-awake Stages 1 and 2, to the deep-sleeping Stages 3 and 4, followed by REM. Researchers at Jerusalem College of Engineering in Tamil Nadu would like to see a consumer alarm clock that monitors the user's brain activity, and waits until they're in Stage 1 or 2 before waking them.

In lab tests, they had volunteers set a wake-up time on a modified alarm clock, which was receiving output from electrodes that were wired to those peoples' scalps. The volunteers then proceeded to go to sleep. Ninety seconds before the set time arrived, the system started to monitor their brain activity. If they were in one of the first two stages within that period, the alarm would go off. If they stayed in the deeper stages, however, the clock would automatically go into "snooze" mode, and try again later.

While it's doubtful that anyone would want to wire themselves up every night, the Jerusalem College team envision a simpler commercial version of the system, in which users would wear a headband that wirelessly transmitted their sleep data. People could also use the system to obtain a timetable of their typical sleep pattern, so they could set their alarm for a time when they tended to be in one of the lighter sleep stages. Although this could result in their being woken considerably earlier than they would be otherwise, the scientists state that they would nonetheless end up being more refreshed and relaxed.

Other "bio alarm clocks" do already exist, such as the aXbo and the SleepTracker, although these monitor the user's sleep stages through an attachment on their wrist. Would a headband work better?

A paper on the research was recently published in the International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology.

8 comments
8 comments
Tylor English
There is an app for that.
Bill Bennett
@ Tylor,,, snicker, snort
Mike Trinastich
sleep cycle on the iphone already does that. it\'s based off the assumption that movement means you\'re out of rem.
Ted Coombs
Hmmm, an alarm clock that DOESN\'T wake you up. Now that\'s a great idea. So, alarm clocks are normally used by people who need to be up at a particular time. Does the clock have a \"give up\" feature where it finally stops waiting and fires off the klaxon?
kellory
Honest boss, my alarm refused to wake me, and said I was having a good dream, so why waste it? It swore up and down you wouldn\'t mind!
vv_vv
How is it different from what Zeo already offers?
Gabriel Snell
lol... it wakes you up when you are ready to wake up? does that mean it goes off when i wake up to remind me that im not still dreaming?
Renārs Grebežs
Some of these comments are really ignorant, but, the idea is great. I\'ve been wanting something like this for a long time. :)