An Alarm Clock App That Wakes You Up With Games

A new app from Microsoft aims to make waking up in the morning fun—or at least, less miserable. The Mimicker Alarm, which was released for Android this week, wakes users by requesting that they complete a game in order to turn the alarm off.

The games ask users to mimic different facial expressions (surprise, for instance), find items of specific colors, or complete tongue twisters. But while users can pick which games they'll see first thing in the morning, they won't be able to avoid completing them.

"We're a lot nicer than other alarms," Allison Light, a Project Oxford program manager told Engadget. "You start with dismiss or snooze. If you snooze, the default is five minutes to delay the game. If you dismiss, we mute the alarm—but then you have 30 seconds to complete this challenge."

In addition to rousing users from their sleep, the app was also designed to introduce users to Microsoft’s Project Oxford artificial intelligence API. For instance, in Mimicker’s “Match The Expression” game, the app not only recognizes different facial expressions, but notices if you’re not emoting enough, showing off the sophistication of Microsoft’s Emotion API. Mimicker’s “Tongue Twister” game, meanwhile, was designed to show off Microsoft’s Speech API.

The free app is available through the Google Play store. 

Banner Image Credit: Microsoft, YouTube