Designed to cure the anti-social
Now that cell phones have shrunk and we’re contemplating wearing our computers on our faces instead of in our pockets, smart design is more about stopping us from being online then letting us check Twitter more often. Call it anti-social design: devices like this beer glass are devoted to preventing a Tinder session at the bar.
The Offline Glass, designed by the Fischer & Friends ad agency in Brazil, is a normal beer glass with a notch cut out of the bottom exactly the size of an iPhone. The beer has to balance on your phone, otherwise it’ll tip over—so either leave your phone on the table, or double-fist smartphone and glass (not the Google kind).
The beer glass is part of a larger trend of anti-social design that includes the OFF Pocket, artist Adam Harvey’s smartphone case that blocks all signals being sent to or from your phone. With its metal-plated fabric, the case acts like a faraday cage, bouncing radio waves away from the device. You can’t check your text messages—you won’t even get them until you remove your phone.
There’s also the traditional game of Phone Stack. When out a bar or restaurant, have everyone pile their smartphones in the middle of the table. The first person to give in to their ceaseless social media addiction and grab their phone has to foot the bill for the rest of the group. Watch out for signs of technology withdrawal: squirming in seats, nervous foot-tapping, and eyes darting around looking for any and all screens.