Phone Plus Sensory Deprivation Equals...

Solo-Malee writes "The BBC has an article about a new phone technology that isolates the user from all other sensory input. This in theory means the user is not distracted by other things occurring in their immediate surroundings. If these catch on, it looks like getting a Jacuzzi for the office could be easier than you might expect."

Comments

The phone is your leash

[grub]

[PET_PEEVE-2978741]

This in theory means the user is not distracted by other things occurring in their immediate surroundings.

For me the phone is a major distraction. When I'm busy I don't want a damn phone call from anyone. Unfortunately some people live by the phone; watch when a phone rings and see how people jump to answer it. Screw that: the phone is a convenient tool for me not a backdoor by which others can invade my space and privacy.

When I had a land-line at the house I didn't own an answering machine. Caller ID let me know who called and I could decide if a return call was warranted because once a message is left the onus is on you to call back. I have just my cell now and don't give out the number to non-friends & family. Take control of your life, the phone isn't your master.

[/PET_PEEVE-2978741]

Re:The phone is your leash

[pohl]

They don't do this...to avoid 'a mutex lock', they do it because they have something else to do.

That's exactly what the term "mutex" implies. It is short for "mutually exclusive". If someone has something else to do, they cannot devote that time to the phone call because they feel that the two activities require mutually exclusive access to themselves. Sorry if the jargon lost you. I find that the concepts behind software design are very useful metaphors for how people interact. You might find the metaphors a bit silly if you're just imagining conversations among friends and family, but when you start thinking about communications in large organizations, it is vital that someone think in these terms...because the problems are exactly the same: resource contention, scheduling conflicts, interruption of essential tasks, request/response latency versus total throughput, etc...

Re:The phone is your leash

[PD]

I had a cordless telephone with a bad battery that would dial random numbers when the juice got too low. Sometimes the people would call back. Luckily it never dialed a phone sex operator in Barbados...

Re:The phone is your leash

[maxume]

Ok. So the jargon means the same thing as the simpler statement. Show me two people in your large organization that, while avoiding communication, think 'mutex lock' and not 'I'm busy, asshole'. Two. I'll grant that it is probably a very good idea for somebody at that organization to be doing this thinking, my point is that it isn't the busy people who are avoiding the phone, at least at the moment that they decide not to answer the phone.

Doesn't solve the problem!

[klaxor]

Whilst it's not necessarily very efficient, in many ways it's very pragmatic, in that the user will be totally focused on who they're talking to.

Um, excuse me, but that's the problem with existing phones - the person concentrates only on the conversation, to the exclusion of everything else, including driving. If anything, we need a phone that would allow a person to do something else other than just talking. (And yes, I know about wireless headsets and I think they're great...)

Sensory Deprivation...

[Thomas M Hughes]

The article doesn't really say how you would dial when you're immersed in complete sensory deprivation. I mean, your sense of sight, sound, and smell are supposedly completely removed by the device, and your body is supposed to be in body temperature water, getting rid of gravity and most of your touch. Wouldn't that make dialing a number difficult?

I suppose maybe you could only receive calls on the thing. But then, wouldn't it be impossible for two people to use them? If the point is to focus everything onto the conversation itself, if only one person has the experience, I imagine the person in the deprivation would be pretty pissed that the other person wasn't pay as much attention as they were.

Then again, this is a luxury item, and might only be available to executives for business calls. Perhaps they have their secretaries do all the dialing and then its just forwarded to the device, so they don't even have to worry about that aspect of it.

Ultimately, I think its impractical, though I'm glad that some people are doing truly innovative work. I give it a B for effort.

YAY!

[phloydphreak]

hm, I dont have the attention span or caring to devote time to a phone call, locking my door and spending quality time with loved ones. I guess I will buy a sensory deprivation phone so that my ADD (read American upbringing) wont interfere with the quality time I am not willing to put effort into.

After all, a phone is not enough to converse, but with a helmet, all things things are possible. I mean... its a helmet.

Re:Dumbest Thing I've seen. - Ever.

[h00pla]

Absolutely. I read an article a while back but I don't remember exactly where I saw it - I think it was in The Guardian - but it said we're now entering a period where inventors are producing stuff that has dubious value for society. It talks about how companies are now putting a great deal of effort into providing features for things - I think they mentioned cell phones - and they know that people don't use these features. The article points out that instead of making the phone better in other ways - they take surveys to find out why people aren't using the features. Here we have another example of this kind of misplaced creativity. The inventor actually says this:

Whilst it's not necessarily very efficient, in many ways it's very pragmatic ...

That's a pretty telling statement.

Re:Dumbest Thing I've seen. - Ever.

[theLastPossibleName]

this is almost as dumb as laptop steering wheel mount

Great...now if someone could design a device...

[Darkstar9969]

...that mutes the person on the cell phone so everyone around them does not have to listen to their conversation.

THAT would be a cool technology!!!

Re:No sensation and no...

[KurdtX]

I don't think we're dangerous

Oh sure, no one ever does

The problem is that some people can drive while talking on the phone and some can't (some can't even drive, period). The ones who can drive while talking on a cell phone you never notice (as it should be). As I live in California, where everyone has a cell phone, and frequently use them in cars, I've actually spent time (when riding as a passenger) noting who are talking on their cell phones and who aren't. About half of the solo drivers are typically on their phones, and yet I only see one or two people per trip who get themselves in trouble because of the phone.

Granted, anyone can talk on the phone while driving in a straight line at a constant speed (I've actually known guys who've fallen asleep on long straight roads and done fine), but it's the emergency situations that the people on phones can't deal with. And the problem is 1) they forget the basic rule of driving of looking as far ahead as you can see and 2) they won't stop their conversation to deal with the situation. Since talking on a cell phone should be equivalent to talking to a passenger, they need to realize that when talking to a passenger, you both stop talking when someone cuts you off.

Personally, I've told people to hold on, put the phone down, done what I had to do, and then resumed the conversation (with explination). I also drive 10-15 mph slower (I like to drive 80-90 mph) when on the phone, as I realize that they are a distraction and my reaction speed will be slowed (I do the same when I have passengers in the car, too). I'd also like to mention that I don't use cell phones on local roads, as there are too many things that could happen that can't in the controlled environment of a freeway. A little bit of thought (often lacking) and cell phones aren't as much of a problem as you think they are.

Given that you said you drive 50mph I take it you're not in California, and probably not anywhere with much traffic, or hour+ long commutes that really have turned the cell phone into a necessity (I don't even have a land line, 'cause I'm never home except to sleep). Maybe instead of assuming everyone is like you (I salute you if you recognize that you don't have the ability to talk on the phone and drive at the same time), realize how diverse people are in their abilities. Hey, someone was doing alright at running a country, but thought that fooling around with an intern in the White House would stay a secret.