22 year old student invents Woodpecker alarm clock - PHOTO

It is the dreaded sound which every nine-to-five worker hates with a passion - yet one from which they cannot escape.But the days of bells and bleeps in the bedroom may soon be over.
 
Natalie Duckett, a design student, has come up with a simple invention which is being billed as a wake-up call for the traditional alarm clock. Her revolutionary timepiece has no face or even hands – and sounds like a lesser spotted woodpecker.

Sleepers set a dial for the time between 6am and 9am they want to rise and, at zero hour, a metal 'beak' taps out a call on the nearest bedside object. Another follows in the evening to remind the owner that bedtime is approaching if they want to fall in with their natural biological rhythms.

Now Miss Duckett, 22, is hoping to turn her prototype into a mass-produced market leader. She said: "People hate waking up. It seems to be one thing that unites everyone and the noises of alarm clocks are so annoying and unnatural.

"I suffered jetlag for a whole month after coming back from Australia last year and it hit home just how important sleep is to people.

"There doesn't seem to be any time in society today to tune in to your natural body clock. People need at least eight hours sleep a night to stay healthy.

"That was when the idea came together. A friend mentioned that she used to love waking up and hearing a woodpecker at work in the trees nearby. It's such an evocative sound.

"And the beauty of the beak on my clock is that the tone of the alarm changes with whatever it is next to – it could be something made from glass, metal or wood.

"It also gives an alarm call in the evening to remind the owner that they should be thinking about getting ready for bed if they want to wake up fresh."

The Sleep Council, which gives advice on the value of extra slumber, praised the woodpecker clock. Spokesman Jessica Alexander said: "Not everyone wants to wake up to buzzing in their ear so it's good on that level.

"But the biological concept is a sound one too because healthy sleep patterns are about building habits around regular hours.

"Lack of sleep doesn't just make you tired and grumpy. Research is finding that, over time, it can lead to some serious health problems which can knock years off your life."

Miss Duckett, from North Berwick, East Lothian, is in her fourth and final year studying product design at Dundee University. The battery-powered Alarming Clock is set to star at the New Designers festival in London in July and she is also in talks with an online retailer to develop her invention commercially. 


/Telegraph.co.uk/

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