Discover the "hollow cell phone", a device that is becoming a sensation in Japan

As a way of reducing users' level of stress related to the use of cell phones, and also taking advantage of the return of popularity of foldable cell phones – very popularized by Nokia, for example –, a Japanese company decided to create “mobile phones hollow.”

The creation is by Japanese developer Takayuki Fukusawa, who created the so-called “hollow AcryPhone”. The idea came after the man ran out of battery and discover that, in fact, your smartphone had little use.

Find out more about the new “hollow cell phone”

Smartphone on the left and two Acryphone models, in the middle and on the right. (Image: Mainichi/Yusuke Hiratsuka)

Created with acrylic material, this “cell phone” does not have a screen, speaker, LEDs, processor or any other component. Basically, it’s a “movable artificial stone,” as Fukusawa describes it. However, at first glance, the cell phone looks a lot like high-end smartphones.

However, its main function is to serve as a “placebo” item for those who are unable to switch off due to their heavy dependence on this type of technology.

The AcryPhone is sold in two versions: the Standard, which costs around R$111, and the more elaborate version, which replicates all the details of a more modern cell phone, sold for approximately R$116.

Why has the “hollow cell phone” been a sales success?

Due to the intense struggle against cell phone addiction, many people are choosing to return to simpler models. For many, smartphones have become synonymous with anxiety and addiction.

However, even though the first intention is to help people, many of them have bought the Acryphone, the “hollow” cell phone, as a way of ironizing its existence. They see creation as a way to criticize device addiction.

For this reason, Fukusawa guarantees that, because there are many people buying the device as a way of satirizing it, it becomes “very versatile”.