Social distancing has given us all a crash course in using video chats. And now we know they’re a double-edged sword. They’ve been vital in helping us stay connected with loved ones while also letting us work safely from home. But they suffer from the same problem as real conversations—sometimes we can’t escape them. There’s no established, polite way to bail on boring digital meetings, dates, and quarantine “parties” just yet. That makes us long for a more traditional quarantine. The kind where we don’t speak to anyone.
Fortunately a Japanese inventor has come up with a solution. She’s built a machine that helps you bail on hopeless Zoom calls. But the device requires more than just wires and engineering know-how. It requires some convincing acting.
Marina Fujiwara‘s latest “useless invention” (which we came across at SoronaNews24) is a simple, silly solution to escaping virtual chat nightmares. She calls it the “Emergency Online Drinking Party Escape Button.” However, her followers have dubbed it the “Loading Circle of Death,” which is also an apt moniker. When she decides she needs to get out of a digital call she presses a comically designed “emergency escape” button. It causes a mechanical arm, with a circle of prongs designed to look like the dreaded “loading icon,” to rise in front of the screen.
The key to the whole operation is what you have to do before you press the button. First you must freeze completely. That way it looks like your computer locked up on you before the “loading” machine pops up. While your friends or boss are busy wondering if your connection will come back you can leave the conversation. “ It’s a victimless crime, like punching someone in the dark.”
Marina Fujiwara
Will this actually work? Yes, every time in fact. Some people will be fooled by it. And the rest will be able to take a hint.
To go through all this trouble you must really want to practice some old school quarantining.
Featured Image: Marina Fujiwara