Man Goes Viral After 3D-Printing A 6-Pound Phone Case To Combat Screen Addiction

Many Millennials will remember back in the nineties as the last of the "latchkey kids" who were prominently babysat by their televisions, and the commercials that rolled out, made popular on Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, promoting kids to go play outside instead of watching TV all day.

Now in 2025, videos on Instagram and TikTok encouraging people to "pause their scroll" and to "put down their phones" are becoming more common and popular, because people are realizing how detrimental our increasing screen time is to our emotional, physical, and psychological health.

But Instagrammer and neuroscientist Logan Ivey is one of the individuals behind "Matter Neuroscience," which is an app that encourages awareness, mindfulness, and genuine increased happiness, all through the help of science-backed tasks.

Ivey and his team became concerned about increased phone usage, as it negatively impacts an individual's happiness, so Ivey decided to do something about it on a physical level.

He started off by attaching a five-pound dumbbell to the back of his phone to discourage him from holding it. While it helped somewhat, it was impractical, because it was too awkward to hold, the dumbbell blocked most of his camera lens, and the temptation to simply pop his phone out of the case, immediately freeing it from the dumbbell's weight, was too strong.

Instead, Ivey developed and 3D-printed a new cell phone case design in a shape that called back to the large, cordless brick phones from the '80s. The cell phone case is made from stainless steel, weighs six pounds, and has four screws that have to be unscrewed in order to free the phone from the case, discouraging him from taking it out any time he wants.

The cell phone is still totally operable, with cutouts made in the case design to still use his camera and to charge his phone.

More importantly, it's made him more mindful about his cell phone usage, as six pounds is just light enough to easily pick up but just awkward enough to discourage someone from using their phone for a long period of time. Not to mention the impractical nature of carrying it into the restroom, tucking it in a pocket, or holding it up to record a video for a lengthy period of time.

You can watch the video here:

Some Instagrammers, of course, made jokes about how committed they were to using their cell phones.

@matterneuroscience/Instagram

@matterneuroscience/Instagram

@matterneuroscience/Instagram

@matterneuroscience/Instagram

@matterneuroscience/Instagram

But most Instagrammers saw this project as a commentary for how serious our cell phone addiction has become.

@matterneuroscience/Instagram

@matterneuroscience/Instagram

@matterneuroscience/Instagram

@matterneuroscience/Instagram

@matterneuroscience/Instagram

Having cell phones is very practical for quick communication, keeping track of emails, and being able to check information on the go, but it comes at a serious price of over-commitment to communication, weaker boundaries, and dopamine addiction.

Maybe structures like this will become popular—because with lessened convenience, the dopamine spikes are sure to wear down.

Just don't drop it on your face.