That’s a really interesting idea I pretty much looked over- the fact that by introducing new interactions into our lives, older, analogue interactions will disappear. The chair example in the prompt is another example of making us lazier- we no longer have to turn off the open sign manually. However, I’m not quite sure that these things will make us lazier- instead they will allow us to make the annoying parts of living easier and let us focus on the important parts of life, like social interaction, work, and play. So instead of spending an hour pressing the snooze button every morning, you start your day earlier, or instead of getting lost at an amusement park, and wasting a few hours finding where you are, you can spend that time riding (well waiting in a line for) rides. So yes, these interactions rob us of the physical turning a shower on or using a map, but they replace those actions with time you can spend doing things that matter.
I totally understand the use of a mind-game to wake you up in the morning, and it’s a truly awesome idea. I’m just not sure that I want to wake up in the morning to an alarm that can’t be turned off until I solve the day’s mensa puzzle (yes, I know design isn’t just about me… haha). I think the challenge would be in implementing the futuristic “techno” in a way that isn’t “futuristic techno”. What I mean by that is we should create a way in which new interactions can be implemented in a sense so that they don’t feel terrifying and earth-shattering. You don’t want to wake up like Wallace and Grommit every morning, yet I think the fact that my alarm can decide certain days of the year to not go off (and they always are the most important ones too…) is a serious problem. There needs to be some kind of interaction which ensures that we get up and get moving as efficiently as possible, while still being natural and intuitive.