Nintendo explains why it made an alarm clock

Today’s announcement of Nintendo Sound Clock: Alarmo came a bit out of left field, but in a new interview today, we get to hear about how the whole thing came together.

A discussion was posted on Nintendo’s website featuring producer Yosuke Tamori and director Tetsuya Akama. Tamori revealed that the project began with research into motion sensor technology. However, making an alarm clock wasn’t the first thing decided – rather, Tamori said Nintendo was looking to “support people during their sleep, and we were looking for a way to achieve this.”

Tamori and Akama shared the following:

Tamori: One of our in-house projects was to research motion sensor technology. As this sensor maintains privacy since it doesn’t use a camera, we had an idea for how it could be highly suitable for use in the bedroom, so we decided to kick off a new project to see what we could do with it.

I see, so you started development from scratch while also making use of ideas that already existed. You mentioned that a motion sensor could be suitable for bedroom use, but was it clear from the beginning that you’d be making an alarm clock?

Tamori: Actually… not quite. We knew that the theme was to support people during their sleep, and we were looking for a way to achieve this. However, it was only after a lot of technical trial and error and building many prototypes that we decided to focus on alarm clocks.

So, you utilized the team’s existing knowledge, but there was a certain moment that ultimately made you settle on an alarm clock. Is that right?

Tamori: Well… The motion sensor used in this device detects a sleeper’s movements, and there are certain body movements that they make just before waking up. From an early stage, we thought that if we could get this sensor to detect the timing of these movements, people could use it to help themselves wake up feeling refreshed. But it was technologically quite difficult for the sensor to detect those movements accurately enough back then, so we continued experimenting for a while.

Then, our programmers found a way to use the sensor effectively, and there was a point when its responsiveness improved dramatically. They developed a system that detects approximately where a person is on a bed based on the distance and angle measured by the sensor. This made it possible for the sensor to capture the moment a person gets in or out of bed more accurately. It was at this time that we started discussing the possibility of developing an alarm clock that automatically stops as soon as a person gets out of bed.

Akama: From the early days of the project, we considered implementing a feature to wake yourself up, such as an alarm that stops around 10 seconds after you get out of bed or when you move your body. Although those were all useful features, we weren’t sure if they’d be enjoyable or satisfying, unfortunately. Back then, there were no game characters appearing on the screen. The time remaining until the alarm turns off was simply displayed on an on-screen bar, so you had to look at the screen to see the time remaining. Also, it would take a while for the alarm to stop even after you got out of bed. So, there were many challenges.

Then, as programmers made technical improvements, such as the enhanced sensor accuracy mentioned earlier, we started coming up with more and more ideas to make it fun and responsive. These included sound effects that go up in pitch when you move your body, or a fanfare that plays the moment you get out of bed. It was around this time that we finally began to feel that we could create a new product in the form of an alarm clock.

Akama also said the team tried out various ideas, prototypes, and trial and error. These included “detecting arm movements, dividing the bed’s area into left and right to detect the direction you roll over, and making the alarm stoppable by stretching.” One of the big goals revolved around not having to touch the device.

We also learned during the interview that development took place during the coronavirus pandemic, so it’s been in the works for a few years now. 

Finally, you can check out one of the early prototypes below. At the time, it was using a dot matrix LED instead of an LCD screen. Tamori said that ultimately, the prototype wasn’t the right fit since “this display system wouldn’t be able to communicate the instructions sufficiently” and “it was especially difficult to explain the product’s new features, such as the motion sensor.”

We have information about Nintendo Sound Clock: Alarmo here. You can also read the full interview here.