When communicating the features of Alarmo, I think its design and technology make an impression, but the alarm sounds and background music shouldn’t be overlooked. At launch, seven tracks from each title – Super Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Pikmin 4, Ring Fit Adventure, and Splatoon 3 – are available as alarm sounds. How did the idea of using game music come about?
Akama:
When the project started, we had a meeting where we discussed how we would like to wake up. One thing that triggered the idea of using game music was when the team got excited over the theme of “Waking up one morning to find I was…”. While coming up with ideas like, “Waking up to find I was on a beach in Hawaii”, and “Waking up to find I was a baby”, the conversation started drifting toward the idea that it would be great if you could wake up somewhere different every morning, like you’re travelling.
The conversation settled on how nice it would be to wake up in a game world, and so we decided to use game music. As if you’re waking up on a beach or on a grassy plain, just by changing the alarm sound, the scenes that you wake up to change as if you’re travelling. I believe that this is the unique power of Nintendo’s music to express the game’s world and atmosphere through sound.
Indeed, music from various game situations is used for the alarm sounds.
Akama:
We thought it would be best to have as many tracks as possible because if you get used to the same alarm sound, it could get harder to wake up no matter how loud it is. With that in mind, we’ve made it so you can either set the game music that plays as an alarm yourself or randomise it. More variety in sound means more variety in your daily waking up experience. So I think this might make it easier for you to get out of bed, and you start looking forward to waking up.
Also, background music plays for a while after the alarm stops, and Alarmo responds to your movement with sound to create an atmosphere of being in a game world. Many people will gradually start to wake up as they move around. I’d be happy if people experienced waking up invigorated, as if in a game world, by moving their bodies.
Come to think of it, some people prefer to wake up quietly, while others want to be woken up firmly. How did you take those differences into account?
Tamori:
We’ve prepared three different modes to wake you up: Firm Mode, Gentle Mode, and Button Mode. In fact, during the initial development phase, there was only Firm Mode, but the way you wake up varies depending on the person. Personally, I can get out of bed quickly once my alarm goes off, but I didn’t know until after this project started that some people stay in bed and zone out for about 30 minutes before getting up. Some of those people were of the opinion that Firm Mode was too strong, so we added Gentle Mode, which lowers the volume and stops after just a little movement.
We recommend trying Firm Mode first, and if you find it too noisy, switching it to Gentle Mode. Also, by connecting Alarmo to the internet, you can add Moderate Mode, which is somewhere between Firm and Gentle, so you can choose whichever one you prefer.
The other mode – Button Mode – is like a normal alarm clock, right?
Tamori:
Yes. The motion sensor is designed to be at its most responsive and function best when Alarmo is used by one person, but I’m sure there are many families who sleep together in the same room. Because of the nature of the sensor, even if one person gets out of bed, the sensor may detect that other family members are still in bed and continue to play the alarm. Of course, if everyone gets out of bed, it will stop. However, the situation varies depending on the household, so in order to accommodate a variety of circumstances, we added a mode that will stop the alarm when you press the dial button.
Akama:
The development team is continuously testing the product to experience it firsthand and to improve its accuracy. Including Tamori-san and myself, about half of the development team members are using it in an environment where other family members are present, but I don’t think we’ve heard many complaints that it’s not user-friendly.
Another feature that families who use Alarmo like is the hourly chime. The hourly chime can be a very useful feature to help establish your daily rhythm, as it serves as a cue to go to school or work, or a reminder of your everyday routine. Of course, you can disable it if you prefer. The sound of the hourly chime and the on-screen presentation change depending on which game you choose to set, so it can be enjoyed in multiple ways.
It seems like the team put quite a lot of effort into developing the sound, including the choice of music, how to wake people up, and the hourly chime.
Akama:
We did. Actually, the alarms for Alarmo were not produced by sound experts but rather by team members who worked on a project researching motion sensors, and based on the various things they learned about waking up during that time. As such, when developing the alarm sound, they considered how to make the waking-up experience easier and more comfortable instead of just using game music and sound effects. After that, of course, we had sound experts review and make final adjustments.
Tamori:
Besides that, we had an especially hard time optimising the alarm volume. Usually, when we develop game software, we think about people who are already awake, but this time we needed to develop it with sleeping people in mind. Contrary to when we create games, we needed to actually sleep to confirm if the alarm volume was right. Even if the alarm volume seems too low when heard at midday, it may be just right when heard while waking up. But the only way to really be sure was to sleep and see how we felt when we woke up. So, it was quite a challenge, as even one adjustment to the volume took a day to confirm.