Hasta La Ideas

Nintendo has just dropped a surprise product for fans and it has nothing to do with the anticipated Switch successor. Meet the Alarmo desk clock which is initially going to be available to Switch Online customers in the US and Canada later this week, and from Nintendo Store, you can buy it right now for $100. If you ever imagined what an alarm clock from Mario’s nightstand would look like, this would be it.

The in-house project is a result of collaborative work between hardware developer Tetsuya Akama and games developer Yosuke Tamori. This special alarm clock is not a result of random design iteration, but rather a product of numerous trials and errors after building many prototypes.

Designer: Nintendo

Dubbed Nintendo Sound Clock: Alarmo, the desk alarm clock is built with a major focus on motion sensor technology courtesy of a camera. Keeping privacy at the forefront, the sensor tracks user movement during sleep to wake them up smoothly out of the slumber in the morning. The clock will not simply beep or ring bells like a regular alarm clock, as it’ll smartly wake you up (with adaptable snoozes) depending on whether you have been turning and tossing in bed or slept like a dog. If you do sleep with a partner or a pet, the thing won’t work, so the accessory is intended mainly for loners.

The red-themed clock uses classic game sound to wake you up with the option to set the display theme to one of the 35 options including scenes from popular titles like Super Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Splatoon 3, Pikmin 4 and Ring Fit Adventure. Linking your existing Nintendo account expands that library to scenes from the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Animal Crossing: New Horizons games. The $100 is justifiable with other features including hourly chimes during the day for focus sessions, playing chill music to doze off during nighttime, and recorded data of your sleep patterns over time.

According to Nintendo, the smart clock rewards you for getting up with a “victory fanfare” for your efforts. This is more like gamifying your getting up routine to feel a sense of achievement first thing in the morning. They are going to add more titles to the library in the coming days with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Animal Crossing: New Horizons already in the works. Nintendo has promised availability to a greater audience in the future, so gamers can look forward to adding another gaming-themed accessory to their den.

The post Nintendo’s attractive little smart alarm clock gamifies your waking up routine first appeared on Yanko Design.