This new alarm clock wakes you up with the scent of coffee and croissant instead of a loud bleep

People could soon wake up every morning to the smell of the food that they like from an alarm clock instead of hearing a sound. The alarm, called Sensorwake, has been launched to wake you up with a "timed release of an aroma of your choice" that works like a regular audio alarm.

The designer of the scent-based alarm, Guillaume Rolland, a 19-year-old engineering student from France, said Sensorwake woke 99 percent of people involved in their internal testing in two minutes. The alarm was recently introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Sensorwake uses reusable scent capsules that last for 30 awakenings, which means each capsule could be used for about a month. Six aromas will be available such as "Espresso," "Hot Croissant," "Chocolate," "Invigorating Peppermint," "Seaside" (monoi, tiare flower) and "Lush Jungle" (cut grass, leaves).

“Human beings were not meant to wake up to iPhone alarms,” Rolland said. “We are proud of everything we’ve accomplished so far, and we want to keep bringing happiness to our customers’ mornings.”

However, in a report by ScienceAlert, two studies suggest that scents couldn’t be that effective to wake up people. A study in 1997, conducted by fire and rescue workers in the US, shows only two out of 10 sleeping adults woke up when exposed to smoke or aromas.

In addition, a study in 2004 by researchers at Brown University suggests scents of both peppermint and pyridine were not effective in waking sleeping participants. However, Sensorwake has been designed with a backup audio alarm that can be activated if the person does not wake up after three minutes with the aroma.

Sensorwake was launched after a successful crowd-funding in 2015 that raised US$200,000 (AU$284,412). It is now available for pre-orders for retail units on the Sensorwake website.