Alarm Clock Tells Kids When It's Time to Stay In Bed Many
parents of young children only dream of getting a full night's
sleep. But the dream could soon become a reality with a "reverse
alarm clock" created by Carnegie Mellon's John Zimmerman. Using
a wall-mounted "moonset and sunrise" controller, parents can
program what time their children are supposed to be in bed and
what time they should get up and start the day. The controller
runs a "sky display" that shows the child what time it is
through images of the sun, moon and stars. Children who wake to
see the moon displayed know that they should stay in bed. When
they wake and the moon has set, they can get out of bed if they
wish. And when the sun is displayed – and wake-up music is
playing – they know they should get out of bed and begin the
morning routine. "Our goal in this project is not to keep
children in bed," said Zimmerman, an associate professor in the
university's School of Design and the Human-Computer Interaction
Institute. "Instead, we are try