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class="narrow_content"> <div id="article_top" class="summary_details"> <div class="sd_top"> <a class="small" href="/web/20111007181505/http://www.gizmag.com/aroundthehome/" style="float: left; ">AROUND THE HOME</a> </div> <h2>Acoustic Alarm clock replaces buzzer with strings</h2> <div class="summary_details_left"> <p>By <a href="/web/20111007181505/http://www.gizmag.com/author/ben-coxworth/" rel="author">Ben Coxworth</a></p> <p><em>13:37 September 27, 2011</em></p> </div> <div class="summary_details_right"> <p><img src="/web/20111007181505im_/http://www.gizmag.com/images/icons/splashyIcons/comments.png" alt=""/> <a href="#comments">3 Comments</a> </p> <p><img src="/web/20111007181505im_/http://www.gizmag.com/images/icons/splashyIcons/image_modernist.png" alt=""/> <a href="/web/20111007181505/http://www.gizmag.com/acoustic-alarm-guitar-string-clock/19966/picture/143542/">3 Pictures</a></p> </div> </div> <div id="hero_box" style="width: 530px;"> <a id="hero_link" href="/web/20111007181505/http://www.gizmag.com/acoustic-alarm-guitar-string-clock/19966/picture/143542/"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20111007181505im_/http://images.gizmag.com/hero/acousticalarm.jpg" title="The Acoustic Alarm is a one-off alarm clock, that uses a motorized pic to pluck guitar str..." width="530" height="297" alt="The Acoustic Alarm is a one-off alarm clock, that uses a motorized pic to pluck guitar str..." border="0"/></a><div class="pic_caption"> <p>The Acoustic Alarm is a one-off alarm clock, that uses a motorized pic to pluck guitar strings in order to wake its user.</p> <strong><a href="/web/20111007181505/http://www.gizmag.com/acoustic-alarm-guitar-string-clock/19966/picture/143542/" class="orange">Image Gallery</a> (3 images)</strong> </div> <div class="clear_both"></div> </div> <div class="article_body"> <div id="top_unit"></div> <script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20111007181505js_/http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script> <p><!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"> <html><body><p>We've heard about alarm clocks <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20111007181505/http://www.gizmag.com/sonic-boom-skull-alarm-clock/18517/" target="_blank">that jolt you awake with 113 decibels of sound while shaking your bed</a>, that <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20111007181505/http://www.gizmag.com/shape-up-alarm-clock-dumbbell/12149/" target="_blank">won't stop ringing until you've done your exercises</a>, or that <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20111007181505/http://www.gizmag.com/go/6959/" target="_blank">you have to chase across the room</a>. If you want to be woken in a more civilized, serene fashion, however, you might like the Acoustic Alarm - should it ever become commercially available, that is. Instead of an annoying beep, buzz or radio DJ, the one-off design exercise uses a motorized pic to strum four guitar strings, in order to gently rouse its user.</p> <p>The Acoustic Alarm is the creation of product designer Jamie McMahon. "Human emotions are influenced by many factors, and one of these factors which annoy people the most is the sound of their morning alarm" he states on <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20111007181505/http://www.jamiemcmahondesign.com/the-acoustic-alarm" target="_blank">his website</a>. "The Acoustic Alarm scraps the annoying morning alarm, and replaces it with a relaxing acoustic tune, which has been designed for the user to customise the tone of their alarm by adjusting the tuning pegs."</p> <p></p><div style="width: 530px; height: 397px" class="article_img"><a href="/web/20111007181505/http://www.gizmag.com/acoustic-alarm-guitar-string-clock/19966/picture/143543/" target="_blank"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20111007181505im_/http://images.gizmag.com/inline/acousticalarm-1.jpg" width="530"></a></div></p> <p>The device's cabinet is made from waxed birch plywood, while the bridges, tuning pegs and motorized pic are walnut. Two stainless steel knobs are used to set the alarm time, with one each for hour and minute. After the time is set, the alarm is turned on simply by flipping a toggle switch.</p> <p>One thing that the device doesn't do is display the time, an omission which Jamie tells us was incorporated in order to keep users from getting tense by lying in bed and staring at the numbers. The time of day can be set, however, via a panel in the back.</p> <p>It's unlikely that you will ever be able to buy the Acoustic Alarm, but marketing it was never really McMahon's intention. "This is basically a project using psychology and seeing what affect music and sound has on us," he says. "I want to find a way of incorporating natural sounds or music into innovative products that people will feel happy using."</p> <p>You can see and hear the Acoustic Alarm in action, in the video below.</p> <p>Source: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20111007181505/http://www.ohgizmo.com/2011/09/27/acoustic-alarm-provides-an-ever-so-slightly-less-annoying-way-to-get-up-in-the-morning/" target="_blank">OhGizmo</a></body></html></p>  <div class="article_video"><iframe width="530" height="298" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20111007181505if_/http://www.youtube.com/embed/NMA1P-kNZ2I" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> </div> <div id="bottom_unit"> <script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20111007181505js_/http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script> </div> </div>  <span class="title">Share</span> <div id="article_share" class="dotsontop"> <span class="as_button"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20111007181505/http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="horizontal" data-via="gizmag">Tweet</a><script type="text/javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20111007181505js_/http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> twttr.events.bind('tweet', function(event) { if (event) { var targetUrl; if (event.target && event.target.nodeName == 'IFRAME') { targetUrl = extractParamFromUri(event.target.src, 'url'); } _gaq.push(['_trackSocial', 'twitter', 'tweet', targetUrl]); } }); twttr.events.bind('retweet', function(){ var targetUrl; if (event.target && event.target.nodeName == 'IFRAME') { targetUrl = extractParamFromUri(event.target.src, 'url'); } _gaq.push(['_trackSocial', 'twitter', 'retweet', targetUrl]); }); function extractParamFromUri(uri, paramName){ if(!uri){ return; } var uri = uri.split('#')[0]; //remove anchor var parts = uri.split('?'); //check for query params if(parts.length == 1){ return; //no params } var query = decodeURI(parts[1]); //find the url param paramName += '='; var params = query.split('&'); for(var i = 0, param; param = params[i]; ++i){ if(param.indexOf(paramName) === 0){ return unescape(param.split('=')[1]); } } } </script> </span> <span class="as_button"><script src="https://web.archive.org/web/20111007181505js_/http://www.stumbleupon.com/hostedbadge.php?s=1"></script></span> <span class="as_button"><g:plusone size="medium" count="true" href="http://www.gizmag.com/acoustic-alarm-guitar-string-clock/19966/"></g:plusone></span> <span class="as_button"><script type="text/javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20111007181505js_/http://platform.linkedin.com/in.js"></script><script type="in/share" data-counter="right"></script></span> <span class="as_button"><script type="text/javascript">reddit_newwindow='1'</script><script type="text/javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20111007181505js_/http://www.reddit.com/static/button/button1.js"></script></span> <fb:like href="http://www.gizmag.com/acoustic-alarm-guitar-string-clock/19966/" send="false" width="450" show_faces="false" font="" id="facebook_like"></fb:like><script type="text/javascript">_ga.trackFacebook();</script> </div>   <div id="tags"> <span class="title">Tags</span> <div class="dotsontop"> <ul> <li>» <a href="/web/20111007181505/http://www.gizmag.com/tag/acoustic/" rel="tag">Acoustic</a></li> <li>» <a href="/web/20111007181505/http://www.gizmag.com/tag/alarm-clock/" rel="tag">Alarm Clock</a></li> <li>» <a href="/web/20111007181505/http://www.gizmag.com/tag/guitar/" rel="tag">Guitar</a></li> <li class="clear_both"></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="bing_unit"></div>  <span class="title" id="comments">User Comments (3)</span> <div class="dotsontop" id="comment_dots">  <div id="comment-82663" class="a_comment"> <p>Is this device large enough? It won't fit on my bed side table. </p> <p></p> <p>How about a clock which plays mp3 tracks of your choice? Political speeches to send you off to sleep. Gently twittering birds to wake you gently, followed by a LOUD cockerel to wake you completely! </p> <img src="/web/20111007181505im_/http://www.gizmag.com/images/comment.png" alt="comment"> <span class="name">windykites1</span> <span class="date">- September 28, 2011 @ 06:06 am PDT</span> <div class="clear_both"></div> </div> <div id="comment-82831" class="a_comment"> <p>Mp3 alarm clocks already exist. I use some craig travel speakers (about 5 dollars), connected with an extension cord, to a normal desktop computer, with a timer set to start a media player. It was fairly easy to set up. One of the trickier aspects is needing to manually change volume levels each time the song is switched, and making sure that the system volume levels are set the same as last time, for consistency. </p> <img src="/web/20111007181505im_/http://www.gizmag.com/images/comment.png" alt="comment"> <span class="name">Bob Humbly</span> <span class="date">- September 28, 2011 @ 04:54 pm PDT</span> <div class="clear_both"></div> </div> <div id="comment-83332" class="a_comment"> <p>If marketing is not a present of future intention, I wonder if he has any intentions of making the schematics available, either freely or at some small cost. </p> <img src="/web/20111007181505im_/http://www.gizmag.com/images/comment.png" alt="comment"> <span class="name">David Desiccant Gardner II</span> <span class="date">- October 1, 2011 @ 12:02 pm PDT</span> <div class="clear_both"></div> </div> </div> <span class="title">Post a Comment</span> <div class="dotsontop" id="comment_form_div"> <div id="comment_form" 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