4 ms·

Sensorwake: Olfactory Alarm Clock

18 points by dsr12 10y ago

aab0 10y ago
Kind of suspicious. None of the media articles mentions anyone who's actually used it, and even the original Kickstarter backers have yet to get and try it out: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/222459303/sensorwake-wake-up-happy-with-the-smell-based-alar/comments https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/222459303/sensorwake-wa... ScienceAlert also mentions that two earlier sleep studies found that various scents hardly worked to wake people up: http://www.sciencealert.com/this-scent-producing-alarm-clock-wakes-you-up-with-the-smell-of-coffee-and-croissants http://www.sciencealert.com/this-scent-producing-alarm-clock...
jpalomaki 10y ago
If you use this for some time, maybe your brain starts to associate the scent with the upcoming wake up.
- dacohenii 10y ago
  That happened to me after using one of those automatic coffee makers for several months. Then again, maybe there's more to it than Pavlov might suggest.
whamlastxmas 10y ago
>The perfume molecules detach and are transported by the air flow from the capsule (dry-air diffusion); a process without heating, keeping the molecules unchanged. Seriously? It's a fan that blows air through a piece of paper with perfume sprayed on it. The product is cool but this marketing is such garbage. And $110 plus $6/month is a bit steep for something that's about $5 in parts.
JeffreyKaine 10y ago
Obviously missing a bacon scent.
orkaa 10y ago
So no waking up when you have a cold?
- ffggvv 10y ago
  No waking up when you're deaf? EDIT: but seriously how do deaf people wake up?
  - nacs 10y ago
    > but seriously how do deaf people wake up? A vibrating wrist band (like https://www.amazon.com/Silent-Vibrating-Personal-Alarm-Shake-N-Wake/dp/B0027A573Q https://www.amazon.com/Silent-Vibrating-Personal-Alarm-Shake... ) ?
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - Kluny 10y ago
    You can set your phone on vibrate.
  - delecti 10y ago
    In addition to the other replies, there are vibrating pad alarm clocks you can put into your pillow case.
  - peatmoss 10y ago
    I use a dawn simulator for SAD / easier wake up reasons. Suspect they'd work equally well if I were deaf.
  - aab0 10y ago
    We use vibrating alarm clocks. If you're only hard of hearing, a regular alarm clock can still work as well. My favorite alarm clock had a vibrator and sound, but it also had a socket for my lamp to plug into, so it would wake me up in all 3 ways. Fantastic for waking up at 6AM when I just wanted to either kill myself or go back to sleep. (Sadly, when I was at NTID, the socket for the vibrator to plug in broke.)
sushid 10y ago
I was under the impression that olfactory cues are not reliable for waking up someone [1]. People in fires with broken fire alarms often won't wake until the flames and smoke are close/severe enough to harm them, way past the point of being able to smell a bit of smoke. [1] http://www.vinparleur.net/IMG/pdf/Why_odor_alarms_will_not_work_for_humans.pdf http://www.vinparleur.net/IMG/pdf/Why_odor_alarms_will_not_w...
- jshevek 10y ago
  I think it's more common for business leaders to ask themselves "can we convince people to buy this?" than it is to ask "is the science totally sound on this?" I agree with you, I was under the impression that smells are not effective at waking people up. However I've known many people to claim anecdotally that the smell of coffee or bacon are effective for this purpose. Maybe this varies greatly with the person, the smell, and their previous experiences.

18 points by dsr12 10y ago

aab0 10y ago

Kind of suspicious. None of the media articles mentions anyone who's actually used it, and even the original Kickstarter backers have yet to get and try it out: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/222459303/sensorwake-wake-up-happy-with-the-smell-based-alar/comments https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/222459303/sensorwake-wa... ScienceAlert also mentions that two earlier sleep studies found that various scents hardly worked to wake people up: http://www.sciencealert.com/this-scent-producing-alarm-clock-wakes-you-up-with-the-smell-of-coffee-and-croissants http://www.sciencealert.com/this-scent-producing-alarm-clock...

jpalomaki 10y ago

If you use this for some time, maybe your brain starts to associate the scent with the upcoming wake up.

dacohenii 10y ago
That happened to me after using one of those automatic coffee makers for several months. Then again, maybe there's more to it than Pavlov might suggest.

whamlastxmas 10y ago

>The perfume molecules detach and are transported by the air flow from the capsule (dry-air diffusion); a process without heating, keeping the molecules unchanged. Seriously? It's a fan that blows air through a piece of paper with perfume sprayed on it. The product is cool but this marketing is such garbage. And $110 plus $6/month is a bit steep for something that's about $5 in parts.

JeffreyKaine 10y ago

Obviously missing a bacon scent.

orkaa 10y ago

So no waking up when you have a cold?

ffggvv 10y ago
No waking up when you're deaf? EDIT: but seriously how do deaf people wake up?
- nacs 10y ago
  > but seriously how do deaf people wake up? A vibrating wrist band (like https://www.amazon.com/Silent-Vibrating-Personal-Alarm-Shake-N-Wake/dp/B0027A573Q https://www.amazon.com/Silent-Vibrating-Personal-Alarm-Shake... ) ?
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- Kluny 10y ago
  You can set your phone on vibrate.
- delecti 10y ago
  In addition to the other replies, there are vibrating pad alarm clocks you can put into your pillow case.
- peatmoss 10y ago
  I use a dawn simulator for SAD / easier wake up reasons. Suspect they'd work equally well if I were deaf.
- aab0 10y ago
  We use vibrating alarm clocks. If you're only hard of hearing, a regular alarm clock can still work as well. My favorite alarm clock had a vibrator and sound, but it also had a socket for my lamp to plug into, so it would wake me up in all 3 ways. Fantastic for waking up at 6AM when I just wanted to either kill myself or go back to sleep. (Sadly, when I was at NTID, the socket for the vibrator to plug in broke.)

sushid 10y ago

I was under the impression that olfactory cues are not reliable for waking up someone [1]. People in fires with broken fire alarms often won't wake until the flames and smoke are close/severe enough to harm them, way past the point of being able to smell a bit of smoke. [1] http://www.vinparleur.net/IMG/pdf/Why_odor_alarms_will_not_work_for_humans.pdf http://www.vinparleur.net/IMG/pdf/Why_odor_alarms_will_not_w...

jshevek 10y ago
I think it's more common for business leaders to ask themselves "can we convince people to buy this?" than it is to ask "is the science totally sound on this?" I agree with you, I was under the impression that smells are not effective at waking people up. However I've known many people to claim anecdotally that the smell of coffee or bacon are effective for this purpose. Maybe this varies greatly with the person, the smell, and their previous experiences.