Wink Glasses are a clip-on device that monitors your alertness. How does it do this? By counting how often you blink. Your blink rate will tell it if you are getting tired. If it senses that you are dozing, the glass will turn opaque and supposedly, that will wake you up.

I don’t wear glasses, but if I did and I got tired, I doubt this would wake me up. Maybe the first few times. But I’m sure you get used to it and it wears off.

Philips’s new Wake-up Light Alarm HF3490 won’t jolt you awake. Instead it will wake you up gradually by increasing the amount of light a little at a time. That way you can wake up the way nature intended. With light, not harsh sounds.

If you want you can also use the FM radio, natural sounds or music from your iPod or iPhone. You can pre-order it now for $199.99. It’s great for those living in apartments where the lighting may not be great.

There’s no shortage of interesting and unique alarm clocks that serve as alternatives to the usual, but this may be the most gentle way they have come up with to wake you up. It could also make you look very creepy to your partner. It was designed by Ian Walton and Eoin McNally, who wanted to create a product that could help combat the rigors of a “24 hour” lifestyle.

A grid of LEDs begins to glow about 40 minutes before it’s officially time to wake you up. That way, a slow and gentle increase in light will bring you out of sleep more naturally. It may even stop your traditional bitching and moaning against the pillow. The glo Pillow is just a prototype, but it did pick up one of Time Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2007 awards, so there’s hope.