Has Nintendo found a better way to wake up? A review of Alarm.

No one had ever applauded me for getting out of bed before.

But for the last week and a half a cheerful little red machine has been rewarding me with fanfare when I decide to get up. Its digital screen explodes with parade-style confetti animations, and my first leg of the morning is greeted with my personal cheering section.

Such is life with Alarmo from Nintendo, a new alarm clock that is in part a nostalgic love letter to the worlds of “Super Mario Bros.” and “The Legend of Zelda,” and part of a modern sleep-tracking device. As someone who has long suffered from insomnia and feels energized when there are fantasy moments in my day, I wondered: Has Nintendo just discovered a better way to wake up?

I discovered that the idea of greeting the morning with a cheer is just the right amount of silliness for my work-from-home and often monotonous single life. But Alarmo knows some other tricks. Although it lacks some of the bells and whistles of more sophisticated sleep devices (Alarm doesn't promise, for example, to track sleep cycles to wake you up on time), it manages to take a broad but colorful approach to creating sleep habits. stronger.

Nintendo Alarm uses light animations and game-like sounds to help us wake up.

(Nintendo of America)

Alarm, despite its toy-like demeanor and images of Mario sleeping or Link from “Zelda” relaxing at a campfire, is ultimately a luxury item. Surprisely released by Nintendo earlier this fall for $100, its goal is to possibly resurrect a device from yesteryear. In an era of smartphones, fitness trackers, and always-listening speakers, there's no shortage of gadgets to wake us up with a variety of sounds.

But very few introduce a sense of play into our sleeping habits.

The game is a de-stressor and invites openness and vulnerability, so I don't mind that Alarmo's circular body with an orb-shaped button on top looks like a child's toy (I'll understand if your approach to home decor leans more coastal or mid-century modern than Nintendo). However, what surprises me is the ways in which Alarmo has begun to train me.

Sleep experts' opinions vary on the use of alarm clocks. Rafael Pelayo, clinical professor in the division of Sleep Medicine at Stanford University, says that the ideal would be to wake up naturally. “You should wake up feeling rested. You should wake up feeling refreshed. “You shouldn’t wake up feeling tired… If you wake up tired, something is wrong.”

But the realities of modern life (classes, work, kids, pets, etc.) often require the use of some type of wake-up alert. And instead of stressing about going to bed at the same time every night, which is often impossible depending on professional or social commitments, it can be argued that we should focus on getting up.

Ravi S. Aysola, associate clinical professor of medicine at UCLA Health, says establishing consistency with our body's internal clocks (our circadian rhythm) is key to creating positive sleep habits.

“The area I usually tell people to establish structure is waking up,” Aysola says. “People often talk about going to sleep at a certain time, but the reality is that we cannot force ourselves to sleep without using some external means. The dream happens on its own. We can force ourselves to wake up, so if we have insomnia problems or keep a consistent schedule, the time we need to focus on is the time we wake up.”

A red clock with a screen next to a bed.

Enter the alarm clock.

Alarm, without a doubt, is not for everyone. Those interested, for example, in an alarm clock based more on mimicking natural light, or in the market for a sleep tracker that attempts to capture the different stages of sleep, would need a more complex device. Alarmo prides itself on its simplicity. Through its motion monitoring capabilities, it tells us how many hours we spend in bed and also tells us how long it generally takes us to get up. But a broad view is needed for sleep tracking.

And yet, some of these tools have been a revelation to me. Like many of us, I've struggled with anxiety or depression and am prone to falling into bed when I feel overwhelmed or unable to concentrate. This, of course, does not help my insomnia, as many researchers will tell me that I am training my body not to sleep while in bed. I also have a terrible habit of going back to bed shortly after waking up to get some more rest before starting the work day. This is another impediment to routine.

“That is a resounding no,” says Aysola. “People say, 'I get up from bed and breakfast and I'm still tired, so I go back to bed.' You can't do that. If it really was a terrible night, at least until the early afternoon and set an alarm again so you know how long you want to nap, usually 30 or 60 minutes.”

Alarm has helped me avoid some of these patterns. At first, I focused on sights and sounds from the worlds of “Super Mario Bros.” and “The Legend of Zelda,” as these are the franchises I’m most attached to (other options include “Splatoon” and “Pikmin,” with more promised via downloadable updates at a later date). Waking up to the sounds of Princess Peach giggling or Zelda softly cooing “wake up” is, yes, strange, but I appreciate the burst of levity before I start worrying about my to-do list.

And Alarm in its default mode is designed to get you moving. If I want to calm Princess Peach down, I have to start waving my arms. It will calm down, but only for about five minutes. Within 20 minutes, Alarm becomes aggressive. Mario's antagonist, Bowser, arrives on the screen and the clock rings louder and the sounds are no longer relaxing. Instead of turning it off, I usually opt to simply get up, behavior that the researchers I spoke to encourage.

“Get out of bed,” Aysola says. “If you sleep in or start extending the amount of sleep you get in the morning, that will contribute to getting off your schedule.”

This is where Alarm becomes a sort of hallway monitor. Get back into bed an hour after waking up and the process will begin again. And sure, Bowser is no match for my ability to turn off Alarm, but a little deterrent can sometimes be powerful. It should be noted, however, that Alarm Clock is not always perfect, as my cat jumping on my bed after I have abandoned it can reset the clock.

Alarm has also added a little more structure to my nightly routine. One of its strongest features is its relaxing music, 10 minutes of relaxing sounds designed to take us to a calmer state. For “The Legend of Zelda,” it’s soft campfire noises; for “Super Mario Bros.” franchise, this is a space age setting.

While I wish Alarmo would allow me the option to set this audio for longer than 10 minutes, a capability I hope will come in a future update, Alarmo wants to keep us on schedule. You will have to tell Alarmo your bedtime and as long as you keep your promise i.e. going to bed after the scheduled time, the bedtime audio will start. Since this is one of the nicer features of Alarm (I'm so looking forward to those wild Link sounds) I've resisted going to bed out of boredom to play chess on my phone and instead wait until after my designated time.

Sleep is personal and, although I generally loved Alarmo, it has its flaws. For one, the USB-powered device doesn't come with an AC adapter, so expect an additional purchase if you don't have one lying around. Alarm will also not work well if there is more than one person in the bed. I'm single, perhaps evident by my willingness to include a fancy toy in my bedtime routine, so this hasn't been an issue here, but Alarm's core features will be of little use to those in a relationship.

And over time, I may come to dislike Princess Peach's laughter as I try to wake up, but for now, it's put me in a happy mindset, a reminder that next to my bed is this ridiculous alarm clock that could help me with my insomnia. . And that, says Stanford's Pelayo, should not be discounted.

“One of the things I tell patients is that tomorrow is not guaranteed for any of us,” Pelayo says. “That sounds like a morbid thought, but we live in California. There could be an earthquake or a fire at any time. Therefore, when we wake up in the morning, we should not get angry. 'Hey, we have one more day.' “It’s a way of thinking.”

And one more day is one more chance to stop Bowser from tormenting me for trying to sleep.

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