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Nobody likes waking up in the morning to the nagging, electronic bleep of regular alarm clocks or smartphones, but the smell of just-baked croissants and freshly roasted coffee? Now you're talking.
The Sensorwake, debuting at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, takes a vastly different approach to getting your attention when it's time to wake up. Instead of using sound to stir you, the clock uses smell, thanks to the "timed release of an aroma of your choice."
The brainchild of 19-year-old Guillaume Rolland, an engineering student from France, the Sensorwake was successfully crowd-funded last year to the tune of US$200,000, and Rolland is now taking pre-orders for retail units that will ship in the first half of 2016.
The device functions a little bit like a toaster, with reusable scent capsules inserted into a slot along the top edge of the clock. Each capsule lasts for "30 awakenings," meaning you'll get about a month out of a scent before you need to replace it.
At launch, there will be six aromas available via the Sensorwake website, with plans to sell them via retail outlets later, provided the product is enough of a success.
Aromas are bundled in packs. There's the delicious-sounding "Continental Breakfast Pack," which comes with one espresso aroma capsule and one hot croissant capsule. The "Enjoy the Break Pack" includes seaside (monoi, tiare flower) and lush jungle (cut grass, leaves). There's also the "Vitalization Aromatherapy Pack," which offers a chocolate aroma plus invigorating peppermint.
But do scents work as well as a regular audio alarm in terms of waking you up? While we might hate the sound of conventional alarms, they seem to be jarringly effective for most regular sleepers.
So the Sensorwake comes with an insurance policy for any sleepers who aren't roused by its primary feature. For extra-heavy sleepers or those with stuffed noses who don't register the scent, there's a backup audio alarm that's triggered to go off if the aroma hasn't woken you up within three minutes.
Words to Learn 相关词汇
牛角面包
níujiǎo miànbāo
croissant
a type of roll that has a curved shape and that is usually eaten at breakfast
零售
língshòu
retail
selling goods or commodities in small quantities directly to consumers
让香味唤醒你
没有人喜欢早晨普通闹钟或智能手机里闹铃发出的吵闹不休的声音,那刚烤好的羊角面包和刚煮好的咖啡的味道呢?这还差不多。
气味闹钟最近在拉斯维加斯举行的消费电子展上首次登台亮相,它采用一种完全不同的方式喊你起床。比起利用声音来刺激你,这个闹钟会用你事先选择的香味喊你起床。
法国19岁的工科学生纪尧姆·罗兰德想出了气味闹钟这个主意,去年他成功地利用这个想法众筹到了20万美元。现在罗兰德接受零售单位预定,第一批产品将在2016年上半年陆续发出。
气味闹钟的工作原理有点类似多士炉,人们需在闹钟顶部插入能重复使用的气味胶囊。每个胶囊能叫醒你30次,意味着你在需要替换气味胶囊之前,可以闻一个月的香味。
该闹钟面世之后将在气味闹钟网站上推出六种香味胶囊,罗兰德打算随后通过零售商来出售香味胶囊,如果产品足够成功的话。
香味胶囊以组合套装的形式出售。有听起来很美味的“欧式早餐套装”,使用者们能闻到浓咖啡和羊角面包的香味。“享受休憩时光套装”则能让你闻到海的味道(摩诺伊油、提亚蕾花)和热带丛林的味道(草和树叶的味道)。还有“活力香味套装”,能让你闻到巧克力和让人精力充沛的薄荷气味。
但气味真的能像普通闹钟一样把你叫醒吗?虽然我们很厌恶闹钟的声音,但其实对于大部分沉睡者来说它们才是最有效的闹钟。
气味闹钟还为每个沉睡者们准备了保险措施,避免他们醒不来。对于那些酣睡者或闻不到气味的鼻塞者,如果气味闹钟在3分钟内还没有叫醒你,那么声音闹钟就会触发。
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