Substitute Phone for Device Addiction

Kick your smartphone habit with the 'Substitute Phone'  in Engadget

Pinch, scroll and slide your way to a phone-free future.

Cigarettes are hard to kick not just because of the nicotine, but the fact that they give you something to do with your hands. The "Substitute Phone" from Vienna-based designer Klemens Schillinger works on the same principal, if you think of content as the drug and your phone's touchscreen as the tactile addiction. The five models look and feel like a phone, but instead of a screen, there are stone beads embedded in slots at various angles. You can just grab it and swipe, pinch and scroll, satisfying that physical need without the nicotine/content. .... "

Game Transfer Phenomenon

A new term for me.  Essentially means addictive engagement with games or even any computer screen activity.   To the agree they transfer out of reality.    Now being seen beyond the domain of 'games',  and has the potential of being seen in virtual reality scenarios.   Have seen this kind of warning played out many times, but because of the quality of interaction in modern systems. and the ability to have them around at all times, is this now epidemic and dangerous?

On game transfer phenomenon.   GTP  Will be updated.

Engineers of Addiction and Engagement

A vast amount of knowledge and data exists that has been gathered by casinos and the makers of casino games.  How can this be used to further utilize game dynamics?  In mobile games, but also in applications that will benefit from gamification.  We used  simulation to measure solutions that came out of specific engagement alternatives and scenarios,  Detailed piece that looks at the evolution of casino engagement, and hints at the value of data being gathered. Inspirational.   In the Verge.

Measuring Stress Levels in an Unmanageable World

An insightful piece in the HBR.  Which came up in a lunch conversation today.   Many of us are managing multiple devices now.   Will the number of devices creep upwards or downwards?  Do we need device free zones?  An unmanageable world that can be best described by the language of addiction and being chained to a (virtual) desk.  Ironically the article also mentions an App that claims to be able to detect your current stress level via heart rate variability.  If successful, this will be another example of why the devices may well prevail.

Sephora Haul Addiction

Ann Althouse examines the 100,000 videos entitled "Sephora Haul' on Youtube.    Quite an interesting view of what might be called cosmetics addiction and ultimately cosmetics in retail.   Despite my former  involvement in cosmetics CPG, I was unaware of this social direction.    Jezebel also comments.  A problem that has no name?  At one point it would be interesting to try to extract insight from these 100K videos.

iPad Addiction

In Baseline Mag:  Some thoughts and statistics about how people are getting addicted to the tablet format. Retailers and marketers should notice this.

Wired Billboards

Something we studied in the innovation centers.  In the WSJ.  Signs, billboards and displays that can interact with the observer and shopper.   The shopper is now armed with powerful smartphone sensors that will increasingly be able to detect and influence their environment. The retail environment will be adaptive and interactive. 

World Without E-Mail

One man's vision, a world without e-mail. Replacing 90% of your email with social software. Would that work for the typical person online? Here I point back to my review of William Power's Hamlet's Blackberry, which examines the danger of our information addiction.

Acceleration of Addiction

Paul Graham on the acceleration of addiction via technology. Technology gives us more of what we want, so is it accellerating addiction? Pretty clear the answer is yes.

Internet Addiction Study

Students suffering from Internet addiction.