Designer Creates Substitute Smartphone to Curb Addiction
Smartphone addiction is but one more example of how addictive behaviors are rampant in society these days. At first glance, this addiction may seem relatively harmless, but in reality, automobile deaths from distracted driving have sky-rocketed in recent years.
According to research, more than 75% of drivers have seen someone texting and driving, while in the under 25 age group, more than a third of drivers admit to texting while driving. The impact of this obsessive behavior is incredibly high – according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, distracted driving has reached epidemic levels on America’s roadways. In 2015 alone, there were 3,477 people killed and an estimated additional 391,000 injured in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers.
With some users reaching for their phones hundreds of times a day, and literally taking their phone to bed – a designer in Austria has created a “substitute phone” for people to carry with them while they “detox” from their actual phone.
According to Klemens Schillinger, the shape of the Substitute Phone replicates an average smartphone, however, its functions are reduced to the movements we make hundreds of times on a daily basis. The stone beads which are incorporated in the body let you scroll, zoom and swipe. there are no digital functions. The object, which some of us describe as a prosthesis, is reduced to nothing but the motions. This calming limitation offers help for smartphone addicts to cope with withdrawal symptoms.
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To read more about the impact of smartphone addiction and distracted driving, please visit the NHTSA.