Sunrise Wake-Up Light
I love sunrises, but I can’t see them every day. So I want to design a lamp that can project a sunrise effect at home, allowing me to see it anytime. It can be an alarm clock that wakes people up with a “sunrise” every morning.
Current desired functions: Ability to set time. Ability to change light to mimic the sunrise effect as closely as possible.
Challenges encountered: How to wake people up? How to achieve the sunrise effect?
Weekly Check-In Calculator
This is a physical check-in device placed at home. When you set a goal and start acting on it, you press the button to check in each time you complete a task. When you reach your check-in goal, the calculator will shoot out confetti to congratulate you.
Kitty No-Go Zone!
This is a rain curtain! You can place it at the doorway of rooms you don’t want your cat to enter. When you turn it on, it detects if the cat is approaching. If the cat gets close, water will continuously fall, forming a rain curtain. This way, you won’t be disturbed by your cat scratching at the door at night, and you can also keep the door wide open for air circulation anytime.
Hi Tong, thank you for your brainstorm! Feedback per idea below. Feel free to chat with me on slack or email if you want to discuss any/all of these more.
1. Sunrise wake up light
Eva also had this on her list, so I’ll tell you the same thing I told her: This very much exists already, so how would yours be different and/or better? For example: https://www.wired.com/gallery/best-sunrise-alarm-clocks/
I’m not saying you shouldn’t pick this idea, just that it is a pretty saturated space and you’d have to navigate that.
2. Weekly Check-In Calculator <– this is the idea I suggest you choose
This is a very fun and motivating idea. I am reminded of the Everyday calendar: https://yetch.store/products/every-day-goal-calendar
You should investigate working with existing confetti products, and build an intervention around it. They vary wildly in configuration, for example:
https://www.amazon.com/Streamers-Celebrations-Graduation-Retirement-multicolor/dp/B0C27VLR2Y – this type needs to be launched, so maybe a spring-loaded mechanism that could be released upon reaching the goal: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ChM-MphbhIg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX0409FM3Yw
https://www.amazon.com/Yeunmu-Graduation-Anniversary-Christmas-Celebration/dp/B0CJF4Q5PT this type needs to be twisted, which would require gripping it in two places and using some kind of high torque motor to spin the bottom. Seems excessive when the other types exist. https://www.adafruit.com/product/1142 https://www.adafruit.com/product/5298
3. Rain curtain
This is a highly impractical intervention for just a cat! I would instead maybe try to pitch it as a high-end architectural feature, such as to be used near the bath, pool, gym, sauna, etc. I also think it's impractical to prototype such a project at PoD or VFL, unless there's a room with a drain in the floor that I don't know about… just too messy and entirely unportable.