Ad campaign reveals how technology can hurt human relationships

WATCH ABOVE: A recent ad campaign shows just how negatively new technologies can affect human relationships. Some have turned to so-called “digital diets” to get back to reality. Peter Kim reports.

TORONTO — A campaign for the Center for Psychological Research, a government body in China focused on social issues, reveals quite literally how smartphone obsession may be building walls between humans.

The series of photographs by Ogilvy and Mather China, titled “Phone Wall” depicts the ubiquitous devices, exaggerated in size, physically separating family members within various rooms of a house.

According to one market research study out of British Columbia, one in five residents asked said they are addicted to their smartphones, while 64 per cent said they own one estimated that they checked them on average around 150 times a day.

READ MORE: ‘Unplugged weddings’ trend encourages no smartphones or tablets during ceremony

“I just needed some space, things get really noisy,” said technology entrepreneur Justin Bailie, CEO and founder of fr8nex.com.

Bailie has gone on a number of so-called “digital diets” to get back to focusing on his real life with his wife and three kids.

“I would basically bring my phone to where I was going, but not bring the charger. So you basically let it die,” he said.

“The first day you feel neurotic, you think you’re missing things. But by the tenth day, it’s almost a reverse, it’s hard to get back into it again.”

Baillie says his productivity didn’t dip, but his stress did.

“You feel more present.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "You feel more present."

There are now, ironically, apps that help users keep smartphone usage to a minimum.

Flipd will lock the device, preventing users from opening apps or responding to emails for a set period of time.

It also allows phones calls through and enables user to make emergencies calls to four preset numbers, including 911.

“It sends automatic text message responses to those trying to reach you, but other than that it prevents you from scrolling, checking Instagram, checking Snapchat,” said co-founder Alanna Harvey.

In four months they’ve hit just over ten thousand downloads.

“Most of our users are students, which is what we weren’t expecting,” she said.

“They are students, millennials, people our age — the people who spend the most time on their phones. And they’re the ones who see the need for something like this.”