Design Decisions Behind the Innovative Alarmo Clock
Akama:
The most difficult factor in the design decision was whether to make it look like an alarm clock or not. While it’s a highly novel product that offers a completely new experience, we thought it was important to communicate clearly that it’s an alarm clock. After a lot of consideration, we decided to go with a design that people would instantly recognise as an alarm clock. Also, Tamori-san requested that if Alarmo was to be drawn as a picture or icon, it should be in a shape that would be instantly recognisable and eye-catching to anyone who saw it, so we ended up with this shape.
Hidden Motion Sensor Integration
Akama:
It’s actually just above the LCD, but we made it invisible. From the beginning of development, we wanted to ensure that people could use this product without being conscious of the sensor, so we made every effort to make the sensor as unobtrusive as possible.
Tamori:
Since you can’t see where the sensor is, we designed the device in the shape of a megaphone so that when you’re placing it on a surface, you’ll instinctively turn it towards yourself. Also, because the LCD screen was restricted to a rectangular shape, we consulted with the hardware designers to decide on the design and specifications of the screen display so that it would blend seamlessly with the hardware’s circular shape.
Akama:
We were very careful to adjust the brightness of the screen so that it hopefully wouldn’t disturb the user’s sleep. The motion sensor brightens the screen as you move your body to look at it, and some developers said this function would be useful even for a regular clock.
Eye-Catching Red Design Choice
Tamori:
There were originally several body colours under consideration, and the final candidates were white, red, and grey. Although we designed it so that it would be recognizable as an alarm clock, we didn’t want it to look like an ordinary alarm clock. We decided to be bold and make it red, so it’s clear at a glance that it’s an “alarm clock that’s out of the ordinary” and that it offers a unique experience. Red is an eye-catching colour that we hope will add to the excitement people feel when they set the clock up in their bedrooms.
Power Source Considerations
Akama:
One of the primary reasons is that this device uses a motion sensor to constantly check whether a person is in bed, so if it was battery-powered, it would only last about two weeks at the most. An alarm clock that requires frequent recharging and battery replacement would be useless. And it would be a disaster if you woke up in the morning to find that the batteries had run out. (Laughs)
Another factor was that we wanted to create an alarm clock that could be used without being touched again once it was placed. When you first start using it, you may have to fiddle around with the settings a bit, but over time, you’ll need to do this less and less. After that, you’ll be able to use it just by leaving it plugged in. Rather than having to change batteries, even if it’s only once a year, and take care of the clock, we wanted an alarm clock that would require no maintenance at all, so we decided to have it plugged in.