The world would be a much better place if everyone could wake according to their own natural circadian rhythm and natural sunlight peeking through their window. But the world doesn’t work like that and many people have to force themselves awake. That’s especially true for people who don’t have conventional work schedules and this gorgeous Artificial Sunrise Headboard gives them a pleasant wakeup call.

Consider how our ancestors woke up before artificial lighting came along and humanity was still nomadic, because we haven’t evolved much since then. As the sun started to rise, the sky would transition from black to dark blue and then continue to lighten over the course of an hour or two. That provided people with gradual stimulation to ease them from sleep into wakefulness, which stands in stark contrast to the sudden, blaring alarms that are common today. This headboard simulates the gradual sunrise and an integrated personal assistant brews coffee to give sleepers a little extra incentive to get out of bed.

This headboard is stunning, thanks to the fantastic design and craftsmanship. It partially covers the sleepers’ heads with Adafruit NeoPixel RGB LED lighting, which increases in brightness and changes color over the course of the waking routine. Two Arduino Mega 2560 boards control all of the system’s functions, including the custom personal assistant dubbed PRISMA. An Adafruit MP3 Shield gives PRISMA a voice and a MIKROE SpeakUp 2 Click voice recognition board lets PRISMA understand commands. A DS3231 real-time clock is necessary for accurate timekeeping.

Details on the construction of the headboard and PRISMA’s functions are available in the Instructables tutorial. But it can respond to a handful of basic commands, such as setting a wake time. At that time, it begins the slow LED animation for the artificial sunrise. It also controls the operation of the coffee maker through a relay module connected to one of the Arduino boards.