The Substitute Phone might really be the solution to smartphone addiction
It’s extremely easy for humans to develop addictions, especially for indispensable objects. Therefore, it’s not unusual that many of them can no longer spend time without their smartphones. This will shortly become an acute problem, so an Austrian designer has decided to create a Substitute Phone to fight smartphone addiction.
Smartphone addiction is a reality
Once people have started using smartphones so widely, they constantly feel the need to hold something in their hands to scroll and tap on it. If they take their phones out, they will probably keep looking into them without doing anything else. On the other hand, if they don’t have their phones around, they might get uneasy and fidgety.
Therefore, Klemens Schillinger, a furniture designer, decided to create a tool to combat smartphone addiction. People always feel the need to check their phones, when they actually feel the physical need to scroll and tap. Therefore, using the Substitute Phone would be the perfect way to stop people from keeping their phones glued to their hands.
The Substitute Phone satisfies the people’s need to scroll
This Substitute Phone is made of a plastic material, and has the shape of the device we all love. On its display, it has several marbles which allow us to simulate an action we regularly do on our smartphones. There are five different types of Substitute Phones, which allow us to scroll, swipe, or zoom. These marbles move whenever we touch them, and give us the impression we are actually performing the movement in question.
The purpose of the Substitute Phone is to cure people of that urging need to pick up their smartphone and check it for no reason. Schillinger compares smartphone addiction to nicotine addiction, and says his approach on the matter is therapeutic. The device was presented during an exhibition at the Vienna Design Week.
Image Source: Pexels
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