Clocky Alarm Clock on Wheels: The Alarm That Runs Away (2026)

The Clocky alarm clock is an alarm clock on wheels that rolls off your nightstand and runs away when you hit snooze, so you have to get out of bed to turn it off. I first wrote about it in 2005, when it was still an MIT Media Lab research project. This article covers how Clocky works, its story since then, and whether a running alarm clock is right for you.

Quick answer: Clocky is a rolling alarm clock invented by Gauri Nanda at the MIT Media Lab. It lets you snooze once, then jumps off the nightstand and drives around the room beeping until you get up and find it. It went on sale after the research project and is still sold today in several colours.

How the Clocky alarm clock works

Clocky is made for people who have trouble waking up and keep hitting snooze. When the alarm goes off and you press snooze, Clocky rolls off the bedside table and wheels away, bumping into things on the floor until it stops somewhere new.

A few minutes later the alarm sounds again, and now you have to get out of bed and search for Clocky. By the time you find it and switch it off, you are fully awake. The original design hid its small wheels under a shaggy cover, and an internal processor helped it find a different hiding spot every day.

From MIT research project to a real product

Clocky was developed by Gauri Nanda at the MIT Media Lab. When I first covered it in 2005, it was an academic research project with a patent pending and was not for sale. The same year it won the Ig Nobel Prize in Economics, the humorous award for research that makes people laugh and then think.

Nanda later founded a company, Nanda Home, to produce it, and Clocky went on sale. The redesigned version is a plastic body on two wheels that can drop from a nightstand and keep going. It is still sold today through the official Clocky store and on Amazon.

Is the Clocky alarm clock worth it?

It depends on how you wake up:

• Good for: heavy sleepers and serial snoozers who need a physical reason to get out of bed.
• Not ideal for: shared bedrooms, since the beeping can wake others, or homes with pets that may chase it.
• Room layout matters: it needs some open floor to roll on, and thick rugs or clutter can stop it early.

If it suits you, you can find the Clocky alarm clock on Amazon.

Other ways to stop hitting snooze

• Move your alarm across the room: the simplest free version of the Clocky idea.
• A sunrise alarm clock: a sunrise alarm clock slowly brightens before your wake time, which many people find gentler.
• Phone alarm apps: some alarm apps make you solve a puzzle or scan something in another room before the alarm stops.
• Fix your sleep: a regular bedtime does more than any gadget. Short daytime naps can help too; see how companies use nap pods and power naps, and try these web apps to calm down before bed.

FAQ

Who invented the Clocky alarm clock?

Gauri Nanda invented Clocky as a graduate student at the MIT Media Lab. She later founded Nanda Home to sell it.

Can you snooze Clocky?

Yes, but only once. After that, Clocky jumps off the nightstand and runs away beeping until you get up and turn it off.

Is Clocky still sold?

Yes. Clocky is still sold in several colours on the official Clocky website and on Amazon.

Did Clocky win an award?

Yes. Clocky won the 2005 Ig Nobel Prize in Economics.

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