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If you have an old mobile phone that you care so much about and you chose not to throw it away, but to keep it as it is, a designer from Ireland, Sadhbh Doherty has found a solution to your problem. He created Arcque. An ingenious way to dispose of used mobile phones. The main idea was to find a solution to encourage the return of used mobile phones to manufacturers. This small bead, is what you receive back from the manufacturers, and it stores the digital memories the phone held. It houses the personal messages, pictures and music the phone once stored. We carry our mobile phones everywhere, we use them to communicate with friends and family, listen to music, watch movies and pictures, and sometimes even surf the Internet. Once the phone has reached the end of its life, the files stored are lost along with it. Arcque returns these digital memories to their owner, rather than using monetary gain. The bead contains a memory chip, and the Bluetooth chip from the phone. Its activated by a kinetic motor, if you shake the bead it powers up.

Designer : Sadhbh Doherty

When enough power has been generated, the bead emits a wireless signal which can be read by a Bluetooth enabled device. Thus the user can access old phone memories. The outer shell of the bead is made from a plastic derived from pulverized circuit boards, and the detailing around the center piece of the bead is made from some of the copper found inside the phone. This center piece comes in different materials, regarding the period the phone has been kept without being used. For a period of more than two years, the finish is silver and if the period is more than three years, the finish is gold. Arcque is also a fashion accessory. The center piece is hollow, this enables the user to wear it as a shirt button, a ring, as earrings if the owner had two used phones to return or as a necklace. The variety of fashion accessories this ingenious bead can be attached to is endless, is all part of the users imagination. Arcque not only helps the users dispose of their used mobile phones properly, but also gives them the possibility to wear their digital memory in a beautiful and unique way.

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