Sip

The brief

Sip was a project for the Human–computer interaction course at the University of Trento, made with my team. The brief asked for an alarm clock that, besides waking you up, solves a health problem.

The need

We chose dehydration. Many people wake up already short of water, and feel it as tiredness, poor concentration and cramps.

What existed

Hydration reminders already existed, like Ulla, which clips onto a bottle. We found none that tied drinking to the moment you wake up.

The idea

The alarm sits inside a coaster, with a glass of water on it. When it rings in the morning, the only way to stop it is to lift the glass, and a sensor inside the coaster notices.

The set is 3 pieces: the coaster with the alarm inside, a glass, and a cap that keeps the water clean through the night.

Lift to stop

When the alarm rings, a white light comes on at the front of the coaster. It shows where the glass is in a dark room, without turning on another light.

Lifting the glass turns the light green and plays a short sound, so you know the alarm is off without looking for a button.

The app

The alarms are set from a companion app. We mapped every screen in a user flow first: signing in, pairing a coaster, the alarms of each coaster, and a new alarm with its time, days, coaster and ringtone. A coaster pairs when its button is held until the light turns blue.

Where it stands

Sip stayed a concept, shown with renders and the app’s screens. What I keep from it is the move at its center: the gesture that silences the alarm is the habit itself, so the water is already in your hand.