The flexitime clock

A Brunel University student has developed an alarm clock that lets you lie in or wakes you early depending on traffic conditions.

You enter your morning's travel details before going to bed, then the Rise alarm clock monitors traffic news on the web and works out what time you need to be woken.

David Hunt developed the clock as part of his industrial-design degree. Mr Hunt, who has since graduated, wants to develop it to provide people with faster alternative routes, inform colleagues of an expected delay and provide rail, air and bus-related alerts.