This New App Reminds Distracted Pedestrians to Look Up From Their Phones

I often walk to and back from work, which is a great way to commute, right? Except, instead of taking this time to disconnect and enjoy my surroundings, I end up trudging from one intersection to the next on autopilot, with my eyes glued to my phone. Usually, I’m just checking my work emails, Slack messages, and Twitter mentions: ticking off mundane digital tasks I could easily get to when I reach my destination. This is a terrible habit—I know this—but so far, I’ve had no luck breaking it.

Enter artist and designer Ekene Ijeoma with a solution. Ijeoma has noticed many New York City pedestrians suffering from the same type of phone addiction. “It’s starting to feel like a smartphone zombie apocalypse—there are so many people looking down at their phones and missing out on the city around them,” he says. “What would an intersection look and feel like if everyone looked up to embrace the city’s diversity and engage in serendipity? What if everyone drained all the energy they pour into their phones back into our streets?”