The device is a box that blocks Wi-Fi, incoming calls, text messages or emails from cellphones placed inside of it. It strives to “remove the temptation of peeking at email or social media when focus is needed elsewhere,” the company said.
Pause co-founder Yuval Lazi came up with the ideas as a result of what happened in his home during dinner.
“I came back from work and the whole family sat around the table to eat,” he recalled. “But instead of doing what a family should be doing, which is talking, I just received one email from work, and then I got a whatsapp, and a call.”
When he finally lifted his head up, he realized his three year- old son Liam had been trying to get his attention for over a minute.
“He looked at me and said ‘Dad, please put your phone in your pocket,’” Lazi recalls. “I realized that I was so wrong, and it just turned something inside me.”
Knowing the problem was universal, Lazi decided to partner with childhood friends and create Pause.
“People say to us that they can just turn off their phones, they don’t need our product,” he said. “The thing is: nobody does. But if you do it as something that everybody does together, then people will be more likely to do it. If you want to do it and don’t know how, we are offering you something to help you.”
The Pause box started selling on the crowdfunding website Indiegogo for $40.