Digital Hourglass alarm clock

Many an alarm clock have passed through these pages, and yet we've never seen one quite like the Digital Hourglass. Instead of conforming to society's notions of "time" and "schedules," this project lets you decide how many hours of sleep you need and escape your awful clock-punching life. The Hourglass, designed by students Susann Hamann and Fabian Hemmert at Germany's Potsdam University of Applied Sciences, is set by tilting it at a 45-degree angle, with each LED representing one hour. Therefore, when you wake up in the middle of the night, you can glance over and easily determine how many "dots" of sleep you have left. Snooze is a key feature in any alarm clock that's going to get you fired, and this model doesn't disappoint, requiring a simple 180-degree flip for five more minutes of bliss (um, only five? that's gonna need to change to at least eight if they hope to get one of these anywhere near our nightstand). Sadly just a prototype for now, but the two designers thoughtfully documented the whole project, so you may be able to cobble together your own if you speak German.