01.jpgI don’t know about you guys, but my whole family could sleep through a tornado. Every morning various alarms go off in our household and a half hour later, they are still ringing, and we are all still snoring. Usually, there is at least one light sleeper in a house to save the day, but not here.
I guess we still have hope for a safe nights sleep, a fire extinguisher company in Japan has developed asmoke alarm that instead of producing an ear-piercing siren, it spews forth a chemical called ally isothiocynate, which is the compound that provides the kick to horseradish, mustard, and wasabi.
In tests on actual sleeping people, the strong smell of wasabi woke up most of the subjects in less than 2 minutes without causing any damage or irritation to the eyes, nose or mouth. No word on whether or not they craved soy sauce, or a small plate of ginger.
The device has generated some interest, primarily as an alarm system for hearing impaired guests at hotelsand is being marketed to establishments where noise or loud music could drown out the sound of a traditional alarm.
At $560.00 for an alarm that covers roughly 50 square feet, I might have to take my chances till the pricecomes down, till then I’m hoping the smell of my house burning will roust me out of bed.
