Smartphone addiction affects about half of the U.S. population according to Psychology Today. It�s complicated.
Some people can�t put their phones down, others suffer from �nomophobia� � a fear of being separated from or losing one�s phone. Phone anxiety is now a documented condition, complete with such symptoms as �phantom cell phone vibration� among those who imagine their device is signaling them.
But never fear. Now there is the �Substitute Phone� from Austrian designer Klemen Schillinger, which provides therapeutic motions for those who can�t stop scrolling, zooming and swiping. The phone-like object � which comes in sleek black plastic casing with calming arrays of white beads � is appropriately palm sized, with substitute features that mimic the smartphone experience.
�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,� Mr. Schillinger explained in his rationale for the design, which has five variants.
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