As part of its initiative for better well-being in the digital age, Google has developed a paper envelope in which you can hide your smartphone from you. This one helps you to step back a bit and rest from the increasingly ubiquitous digital world. With the Paper Envelope, you can turn your phone into a simpler device, because the envelope limits quite a number of functions that smartphones offer and steals our time.
A series of two different envelopes Google Envelope, which limit the functions of smartphones, were developed by the design studio Special Projects. One of the cases turns your phone into a simple phone that you can only use to make or receive calls, while the other turns your phone into a camera or video camera.
The goal was to create friendly and magical user interface, which can be downloaded on your home computer and printed. Covers currently only support the Google Pixel 3a and can be downloaded from the Play Store app with a code also available at Github.
“We were inspired by the trend where people buy a different, simpler phone for vacations and weekends, and thus want to limit their access to technology." they explained in the studio. “We wanted to create a more affordable version of this that would allow people to try and go a day without their phone without committing to buying a new device.” they added.
"We looked into how to make the envelope more durable, using materials like tyvek film, but we felt it would be a product that wasn't designed for long-term use," explained the designers. "By destroying the envelope upon opening, we have also increased the possibility that someone will stick to their goals more reliably."
Google also presented application Activity Bubbles, which is designed so that helps users discover what their phone usage is like. Every time you unlock your phone, a new bubble appears on the background. The more times you unlock and use your phone, the bigger the bubbles will be.
More information:
experiments.withgoogle.com
