The worst thing about mornings is waking up, but Philips helps mankind deal with it. Last year, the domestic appliances manufacturer launched the hilarious ‘Wake up the Town’ project, a one-of-a-kind experiment which took place in Longyearbyen, Norway, the world’s northern-most settlement with a population over 2,000, where sun doesn’t rise for about four months each year. There, the brand was testing its Wake-up Light, gadget, an alarm-clock, which uses light, not the usual annoying sounds to help people shake off drowsiness in the morning—it was a tough challenge regarding the fact that in the town the polar night lasts from October till February. The residents of the town received the gadget to use it during the dark period and when the long night was over, they provided their feed-back. After six weeks of the experiment, 87% of respondents said they “were waking up feeling more refreshed, alert and ready for the day,” so Wake-up Light proved its effectiveness in extreme conditions (see the report here), but will it help people in countries where sun doesn’t disappear for longer than 12 hours?
festivals and competitions
Nikon has launched its Small World Competition 2012—an already legendary event showcasing the beauty and complexity of life as seen through the light microscope. Nikon has been rewarded the world’s best photomicrographers for 37 years judging their important scientific contributions to bio-research and science.
As part of its inaugural participation in the first Core77 Design Awards, promoted by one of the world’s most important and influential websites for graphic design, Casa Rex has been selected as a winner in the ‘Professional Notable’ category. This was for the packaging design developed for the new range of powder detergents, Skip Perfect Black/ Perfect White, for Unilever Argentina.
Dr Pepper will donate more than $1 million of tuition money as part of the annual Dr Pepper Million Dollar Tuition Giveaway. The soft drink fans aged 18—24 can submit videos online to explain why they deserve tuition money for a chance to win various prize levels, including one of five $100,000 grand prize scholarships.