Imagine an alarm clock with no snooze button, forcing you to run around to find a remote control to switch it off. You cannot even go back to bed, as it will ring again.

Three students, Pham Hoang Hai Quan, Nguyen Tien Manh, and Nguyen Van Phu, all juniors in the department of Electrical - Electronics Technology of the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, have recently been awarded first prize at the Youth Creative Competition held by the city’s Youth Union for inventing a smart clock like the one described above.

“Several of our friends often oversleep and forget to go to school. We want to invent a smart clock to improve this situation, so that young people become more aware of waking up early, managing their time better and kick starting an effective day,” said Pham Hoang Hai Quan.

The idea of the clock is to make users stand up and move to fight their sleepiness.

Unlike other alarm clocks, this smart clock does not have a snooze button. The only way to make it stop ringing is to go find a remote control, input a password, and turn it off.

However, after turning of the alarm, you still cannot go back to sleep, as a sensor on the clock will check if you return to bed for a period of time, a function which is programmed by software. For example, if you stay on the bed longer than 30 seconds, the clock will ring again and you will have to find the controller to turn it off one more time.

Besides the alarm function, the clock also acts as a fire alarm as it constantly checks the room temperature and rings if it exceeds 40 degrees Celsius.

“It cost around VND150,000 (US$7.5) to make this clock. It would be great if we can sign a deal with a business who wants to mass produce it,” said Nguyen Van Phuc.