I hate my alarm clock, and I bet you hate yours. I mean, who doesn’t? They’re machines that drag you from your comfortable slumber into the cold drudgery of everyday life. Fuck everything about them.
I don’t think I could ever like an alarm clock. But could I be impressed by one? Sure I could. And Bonjour, by French design house Holi, is a deeply impressive alarm clock in the making.
Currently raising funds on Kickstarter, Bonjour does more than merely beep incessantly at the crack of dawn. It boasts Wi-Fi connectivity and is powered by AI. According to the company, it can anticipate and respond to the things in your life.
So, if Bonjour notices that your usual route to work is congested with traffic, it’ll wake you up earlier, so that you arrive on time.
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Bonjour integrates with your favorite services, like Spotify, Philips Hue, and Nest. And like a certain device from Amazon, you speak to it in order to control your connected home. To wake it, all you have to say is (you guessed it) “Bonjour”.
The killer feature of Bonjour is that it can act based upon conditionals. For example, you can tell it to wake you up at a certain time if the weather is good, otherwise it will let you sleep in.
Bonjour also promises to provide helpful tips to get you through your day. According to Holi, Bonjour owners can expect to hear their alarm clocks tell them to wear warm clothing when it’s cold outside, and to get some exercise if they didn’t walk much. It’s a bit like your mother in that respect.
Bonjour is currently in the Kickstarter phase, with a target goal of $50,000. Backers can order a device for $99, or two for $189, with units expected to ship next June. If it eventually hits retail, Holi expects that the smart alarm clock will cost $249.
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