There are many people in the world who are poorly served by present-day alarm clocks.

What good's a snooze alarm if you keep whapping it off? Eventually you'll whap yourself out of a job. A more reliable wake-up system is greatly needed, especially by recent college graduates who are accustomed to partying too much and waking too little.

This Million Dollar Idea came from the question: "What kind of alarm clocks do deaf people use?" Until we asked this question, we han't noticed that most alarm clocks use audio as their sole mode of sensory stimulation.

When you think about it, flashing lights wouldn't be effective, especially in daylight, and smell, unless it was really bad, wouldn't do it either — and if it did wake you up, the smell would linger and inevitably anger you. The smell of rotten eggs, for example, delivered through a light spray of sulfur, would work, but ruin your day. The smell of eggs and bacon could work just as well, but frustrate you when you realize your breakfast is merely virtual. The goal is not day ruination, but guaranteed wake-up.

Taste could work, say a nice taste of hot mustard, but it's delivery apparatus would be costly and unwieldy, invasive and unsanitary.

That leaves touch. "Magic finger" beds found in cheap motels come to mind and fade away quickly. A massage would only put the user deeper into dreamland, while the goal is to bring them out. Therefore the solution is self-evident.

"The poker" is what it sounds like: it pokes you. Attached to your wall or a nightstand by means of a finger-tight clip, the poker is set like an alarm clock. When it goes off, it finds you and pokes you. Pre-calbrated to locate you, the poker is attached to the end of a tri-folding arm (similar to certain desk lamps). A sensing device on the end of the poker knows when it's found you, triggering the chip in its brain to start poking in an increasingly obnoxious manner before darting back to its original position and out of harm's way.

If after several attempts the user remains prostrate, the poker becomes a claw that grips you and shakes you. Pre-recorded messages insult you and call you filthy names. Your mother makes an appearance, weeping. You father calls you "worthless."

Still no effect? The poker hits you with its built-in squirt gun. No effect? Begin the electric shock, starting on weak and quickly accelerating to a mouth-smoking jolt. This will either wake you up or put you in a coma. Knowing this, and having signed off on the necessary papers, most users will arise long before this final procedure kicks in.

For more million dollar ideas, check out The MDI Ideation Project.