Stay Longer
Off-Line
Our mission is to help you spend more time away from your phone and your computer, in your physical environment. With the people you love, and the strangers you meet. To be present and fully aware of the fleeing moments of the only life you have. To smell the coffee, to taste your food, to see the look in the eyes of your dog and the colors of the clouds, to feel the cold breeze, the sun, and the rain. To create time and attention to read again, to play with your cat, and talk to people around you.
Online Life is not Life
Online information accessible through our phones provide unlimited entertainment. From funny clips, to amazing games, to beautiful documentaries. Experiences beyond your wildest dreams from the comfort of your couch.
But even the most immersive online game is one-dimensional. Real life still happens in the physical world. A world that engages all your senses, forms your personality, your dreams, and your memories. It is not always easy to get up and step away from your screen, but it is ultimately more rewarding.
Ask yourself, or ask a friend, to list the top 5 experiences from a week, a month, a year, or a decade ago. Will anyone list the clips they watched on Instagram or Tiktok? In hindsight, most would give up those thousands of forgotten hours for more real experiences. Sports games where you pushed your limit, holidays where you made new friends, lunch with family, or even an unexpected remark from someone you care for or an evening jointly watching television without phones.
Towards a Healthier
Online Diet
While online technologies deliver many benefits, they have become too good in grabbing and holding our attention for too long. Our discipline is no match for the algorithms made to keep us engaged. The phone in our pocket is not only screaming for attention, but we also often really need it. To check our agenda, the weather, or a list of reminders. Checking for information remains the number one reason to go online. And every time we check, we easily get lost again, often forgetting why we went online to begin with.
AWE Tiles place some of the information you need in your physical environment, away from your phone and its endless distractions.
What? Screens
to Replace Screens...?
Indeed. That sounds paradoxical. But AWE Tiles are made to integrate with your environment. Paper-like greyscale e-ink screens with up to 6 months of battery life. For others to see instead of private screens that take everyone to their own online world. To set-up and forget. A quiet part of your wider environment that humans have evolved to read. From the stars and clouds in the sky to the color of the leaves. From the flight paths of birds to the expressions on people's faces. AWE Tiles engage our visual senses in a calm and natural way, for you to look at when you decide you need it.
The AWE panels are intentionally non-interactive. No swiping up or down, no likes, no recommendations, no clips, no notifications to worry about, no click bait news articles.
You choose in advance what you really need to see, and the limits thus created translate into free time and attention that can be directed elsewhere.
Aiding Your Memory
Memory is spatial and with AWE you can utilize this. You can place the information there were you need it. Today’s weather next to your dressing closet, your daily calendar when you wake up, and stock prices you are tracking in your study room. Even if you place all screens in one room or on one wall, the relative location will help you remember the information better.
Restoring Your Sanity
Less time on your phone, less pick-ups, and less distractions will improve your health. From a better ability to focus, to eyes that are less tired, avoiding digital eye strain. From less stress and better sleep to healthier relationships and more energy. And ultimately, to a more rounded personality, formed by more real interactions and more vivid memories.
Join Us in the Journey: One AWE Tile at a Time
The current list of options is just the start and we would like to hear from you what information you would like on your AWE tile to help you stay off-line for a little longer every day. To keep your phone away a little more. To wind down earlier each evening, and wake up a little more relaxed.
AWE Tiles won’t remove phones from our lives altogether. That is not the goal. But it can be a first step towards more balanced lives. In our awesome world. Join us in this journey.
