Artist Dries Depoorter’s installation Recharge will only charge your phone if you are getting some much-needed shut-eye yourself. It uses Raspberry Pi to make sure your eyes are closed and will only give your phone juice when the sleep surveillance camera is satisfied of your restful state.

Rest for power

I’m one of those people whose phone is permanently in their hand and have convinced myself that doom scrolling counts as proper downtime. I even ordered extra-long charging cables so I can comfortably wallow on the sofa or in bed while charging my phone, so I’m definitely in need of encouragement to take proper screen breaks.

Dries’ design promotes relaxation and mindfulness by functioning only when the user is resting with their eyes closed. This unique feature provides a dual benefit: it recharges both the smartphone and the phone addict’s mental state. The aim is to inject mini digital detoxes into your day by linking the charging process to periods of rest, as well as improving battery life for frazzled phones.

Lie back

Recharge features a deckchair and footrest to allow the user to recline comfortably. They place their phone on a charging pad beside them and lie back with their eyes closed. A camera captures video of the snoozing subject’s face, and facial recognition software running on a Raspberry Pi analyses this in real time to determine if their eyes are indeed shut. Only then is the mobile phone charger activated.

I like that this installation encourages you to rest more. The longer you’re lying in the chair, the more juice your phone gets. Win-win. I also greatly enjoy the holiday angle of the chair design, as I’ve never met a deckchair I didn’t fall asleep in. Perfect choice, Dries.