Someone Invented A Chair To Block The Internet

Research has shown that we are obsessed with our phones: A 2013 study found that the average phone user unlocks his or her phone an average of 110 times a day, and another found that adults between the ages of 18 and 34 can’t go ten minutes without checking their phones. All of that constant communication and fiddling on the Internet can be absolutely exhausting, which is why this chair that blocks mobile and Wi-Fi signals sounds like possibly the most relaxing invention ever. Created by Polish designer Agata Nowak, the “Offline Chair” helps sitters to disconnect with a pocket that blocks signals to their phones. Putting one’s phone into a signal-free pocket seems like such a simple thing, and yet it’s something that could make an enormous difference for people who feel constantly pulled in all directions by the demands of mobile communication. In an increasingly connected, frenetic world, this chair seems like a much needed, silent oasis.

Although the “offline pocket” is the chair’s key feature, Nowak writes that the rest of it has also been designed to make “a cozy, intimate, comfy and silent space around the user.” The chair’s tall sides and removable hood create a cozy cocoon for sitters; Nowak writes of the project, “[The chair] makes you feel safe and isolates you from the surrounding environment.” She envisions a number of uses for the design, and suggests that the “chair may be a perfect solution for crowded office areas to help people to concentrate, or may be used at home to create a relaxation zone.”

Check out more of Nowak's designs on her Behance page.

Images: Agata Nowak/Behance (5)