"Offline Glass" Fights Smartphone Addiction in Bars

The solution to your addiction could lie in a beer glass—if your narcotic of choice is your smartphone, that is. With tech dependence sweeping the planet, even the most devoted drinkers have likely experienced the siren song of the smartphone calling them away from booze and conversation. But there's now help: the Offline Glass—a beer glass that won't stand for your smartphone habit, literally. Conceived by ad agency Fischer & Friends for the Salve Jorge bar in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the Offline Glass is designed with half its bottom cut away. So the only way to keep your glass upright—and prevent beer from spilling on the table—is to wedge your smartphone into the cutaway, out of reach from compulsive texting and Facebook status-checking. It's not entirely foolproof, since enterprising tech addicts could hold the glass and the phone at the same time or wedge a napkin underneath. But having a beer glass that forces you to put your phone down may act like a dunce cap that shames you into sociability. Though it could take a number of spilled drinks before patrons remember to balance the glass on their phones, it's a novel idea that provides a low-tech solution to a high-tech problem. Check out the creation and use of the glass at the Salve Jorge bar below:

The Offline Glass from Mauricio Perussi on Vimeo.