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Ruggie - the snooze-proof alarm clock

We've all been there. The bedside alarm has started its familiar beeping/ringing/music/whatever and, desperate for just a few more minutes sleep, we've reached over and hit the snooze button. Then hit it again. And again. Then, suddenly, it's panic stations as we've reached our absolute limit - or even fallen over that precipice into the realm of the seriously late.

The snooze button is a great invention, but only if you have the willpower not to overuse it. Some people deliberately set their alarms a tad early so that they can enjoy that delicious snooze time that's somewhere between full sleep and wakefulness. For others, however, the temptation to keep hitting it is just too much. And being late for work isn't the only potential peril. If you share your sleeping space with a partner, particularly one who doesn't have to get up quite so early, you might have experienced their grumblings and ire as you fumble for multiple snoozes. If you use your smartphone as an alarm call as many people do these days, it can be even worse as you can set it to wake you with music, voices or any weird sound effect you can find.

Now, though, help is at hand in the shape of Ruggie. It might sound like a child's comforter or some surreal new cartoon show, but Ruggie is actually an alarm clock in the shape of a rug. Yes, you read that right. A rug just like the ones you put on the floor and stand on at the side of the bed.

Well, not exactly like a regular rug obviously, as this has a built-in alarm that only goes off when you actually get up and stand on it. The theory is that once you're up you'll stay up; it takes a seriously committed snoozer to get up, turn their alarm off with their feet and then actually get back into bed.

Just like a smartphone, Ruggie can be programmed with customisable sounds to coax you out of bed. These won't stop until the memory foam sensors detect a significant weight for a set period of time. The alarm can then change to cheer you on your way.

What makes Ruggie all the more remarkable is that it's been funded by a Kickstarter campaign. Kickstarter is a crowdfunding platform that allows patrons to back creative projects. At the time of writing, Ruggie had raised an incredible $400,000 Canadian dollars.

The company behind the self-proclaimed World's best alarm clock said that if Ruggie can help you wake up even 5 minutes earlier, assuming you live to 80 years old, you would have gained 100 days to your life.

And who doesn't want an extra 100 days to spend lounging around in bed?

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