The Offline Glass Takes Aim at Smartphone Use in Bars

Next time you’re handing in a bar, take a glance around and do some quick math. How many people are staring at their phones instead of the people around them? Chances are the percentage is high. Brazilian ad agency Fischer & Friends took it upon themselves to design a glass that aims to change that.

Now in use at Sao Paulo bar Salve Jorge, the Offline Glass depends upon a smartphone to stand upright. It has a notched base, with a lip that’s meant to rest on top of the phone. If there’s no phone beneath it, the glass will tip over. So when you return to your table with your freshly poured beer, you have no choice but to submit your phone to alternate duty as a coaster.

Does it work? Well, for one thing, condensation could potentially be a big issue — you have to have a pretty great case to keep drops of water rolling down the glass sides from doing potential damage to the phone itself. And what about that moment when you’re just tipsy enough to reflexively grab the phone to settle a bar fight with Google, and forget that there happens to be a glass resting on it.

No word on whether the glass is headed for expansion, or if the U.S. market is in its sights.

via Gizmag and Telegraph UK