And you thought waking up to a regular alarm clock was annoying.

This is AWESOME!

Do you ever turn off your alarm when you are half asleep? Well obviously the inventor of this had a problem with that happening.....

Clocky.
Dumb name I know, but still awesome.
Clocky is an alarm clock that runs away from you (and hides?). It is made by Nanda, a company that only appears to make this one product. It came out a couple years ago but this is the first I have ever seen of it. The alarm clock is sandwiched between to large "off roading" wheels. It isn't too big, roughly 5x3x3 inches. The clock can apparently jump off surfaces up to three feet tall without damage. The wheels are slightly larger than the clock to protect it from damage as it maneuvers around your room/house bumbling into things and randomly changing paths. The premise is that you will have to hunt for it and by the time you are able to turn it off you will be fully awake. The snooze time is adjustable from 0 (no snooze permitted) to 9 min. Clocky allows one snooze, and on the second alarm it "jumps" off your night stand and beings its spastic dance accompanied by R2-D2 like sound and flashing screen. It moves randomly, so you will not be able to adapt. The rugged wheels facilitate movement on wood or carpeted floors. For days that you aren't in the mood for a chase, there is an option to disable the wheels. It also has the nice feature of low battery warning.

While I could see it getting annoying quickly, I think this is a clever and interesting invention. There is a lot of emotion associated with waking up, so it is the perfect opportunity for Human Centered Design! The emotion was definitely played up in the marketing of Clocky. It was consistently referred to as "he" in the description and compared to a quirky pet. It comes modestly packaged, with only the small outer box and a few sheet of instructions. The box design is subtle, displaying few words, a 2-D icon of the clock, and tint reflecting the color choice of your new pet. It retails at around $40 which may be a steal for all the morning entertainment Clocky provides.

Keyboard and Mouse combo?

I came across this new keyboard and am not quite sure what I think of it.

It is not in production, but won an ITsecrets award several years ago. As you can see from the picture, the keyboard is split and the right side also functions as the mouse. To switch between stationary mode and mouse function the user simply moves their hand to grip the mouse-like contour where there is a contact sensor. While I was marveling at how bizarre it looks I began to wonder why someone wanted to create it. Further investigation led me to a portion of their webpage called Advantages, these are the reasons given:

* The combimouse provides instant and effortless transition between keyboard and mouse operation.
* A regular keyboard has its mouse situated far to the right of the keyboard. combimouse eliminates shoulder abduction - a widely documented and recognised problem - which is the unnatural opening up of the shoulder in order to reach a standard mouse.
* Minimises prime desk space usage.
* Left and right units are small enough to be easily pushed aside while not in use.
* The units can be placed to the right and left of center, leaving a clearing for books or other items.
* The right unit features an integrated numeric keypad, making the combimouse perfect for data entry and navigating spreadsheets.
* Features a multi button mouse which is convenient for gaming, CAD and most other programs. It is the best system for First Shooter Gamers.
* The combimouse right unit can be used with a notebook to provide keyboard, mouse and numeric keypad functionality.

So I suppose the feature of being able to put a document directly in front of you without covering the keyboard is useful, and though it is not explained in detail, I could buy its usefulness for running CAD and similar programs. The pleas about effort and pain associated with moving your hand to the traditional mouse seems a little far fetched though. This is a good attempt at unique design, but I'm not convinced it is really solving any problem, and from the looks of it would require a substantial behavioral change on the part of the user, something we all know is bad for successful adoption of new products. As can be said for most interesting but not-so-useful designs, at least it would be a conversation piece!

Smog Eating Concrete!

Everyone love personification....

The Italian firm Italcementi revealed TX active concrete in 2008, an environment friendly development 10 years in the making. Specifically, it is cement mixed with an agent called a photo-catalyzer, titanium dioxide, that speeds up the natural process of breaking down smog into its component parts when its exposed to sunlight. It has been implemented on several busy streets in Segrate, a town near Milan, and has reportedly reduced nitric oxides in the area by as much as 60%. Neat!

It has also been implemented here in Chicago, well Highland Park actually, in an set of townhouses designed to be affordable and "green". The concrete for this project was manufactured locally (in Aurora) by Unilock, a company approved for photocatalytic paving. Courtyards paved with this concrete are listed as one of the "environmental assets" utilized by the complex designers. The same properties that cause the concrete pavers to destroy atmospheric pollutants also makes them self-cleaning further preventing waste of resources. Additionally, they are permeable to allow rainwater to filter naturally back into the ground, rather running off, gathering pollutants, and discharging into nearby streams.

I think the best part about all of this, is that it can be implemented into affordable housing. Meaning, it will be accepted that much more easily as an alternative.