It sounds like a contradiction in terms, but Japanese clock maker Seiko Clock Inc has come up with an alarm clock that sends you to sleep.
Rather than allowing for an all-too-short extra 10 minutes in bed, the snooze function on the Good Sleep alarm clock comprises a selection of six soothing sounds designed to lull the user into the land of dreams.
"We have received quite a number of requests from customers -- mostly in their 30s or 40s -- who wanted an alarm clock with sounds to induce a restful sleep," said Ichiro Doi from Seiko's marketing planning division.
"We presume this demand arises from the combination of the so-called 'healing' boom in Japan and growing desire of urban people to have a more relaxing sleep. We heard that people in urban areas tend to sleep less than six hours a day."
Instead of sleepless nights counting sheep, insomniacs can choose from six restful sounds to help them nod off including the noises a fetus hears in the womb, French composer Erik Satie's piano composition, Gymnopedies, wave sounds or `healing' flute music.
For those who do not want to regress quite as far back as the womb, there is that old standby, Schubert's Lullaby. Of course, the Good Sleep alarm clock is also fitted with a raucous buzzer to rouse users from their deep slumber in the morning.
Seiko had its own wake-up call when market research showed that increasing numbers of young Japanese do not have alarm clocks because they use the alarm function on their mobile phones instead, and even named Japan's leading mobile phone operator DoCoMo when asked to identify a clock manufacturer, Doi said.
In earlier bids to revitalize the market, the company had opted for the other extreme of producing the world's loudest alarm clock, and another one aimed at young people with pulsating club music as an alarm, he added.
The Good Sleep alarm will go on sale in Japan on Aug. 23, priced at 5,700 yen.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2