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.
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