{"id":4652,"date":"2014-07-03T12:16:58","date_gmt":"2014-07-03T19:16:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/?p=4652"},"modified":"2014-07-03T12:39:46","modified_gmt":"2014-07-03T19:39:46","slug":"vancouver-cafe-will-be-a-refuge-from-wireless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/?p=4652","title":{"rendered":"Vancouver caf\u00e9 will be a refuge from Wireless"},"content":{"rendered":"

video :\u00a0<\/span> “Escape the Internet at the Faraday Cafe”<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"cage\"<\/a><\/h2>\n

Internet-free Vancouver caf\u00e9 will be a refuge from the tyranny of digital signals<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
BY SAM COOPER, THE PROVINCE\u00a0JULY 2, 2014<\/div>\n

It could be argued that when we go out to dine or drink we ought to share the experience with the friends surrounding us, and perhaps even strangers in the vicinity.<\/p>\n

At least, that\u2019s how it used to be. But more and more, faces stuck to phones, we share public outings through our digital devices, chatting with humans we may never meet in the flesh, and ignoring people within speaking distance.<\/p>\n

Julien Thomas, a Vancouver construction worker by day and social artist by night, has erected a digital-signal-repelling caf\u00e9 in Vancouver\u2019s Chinatown in an effort to draw people back to people, and the traditional caf\u00e9 scene.<\/p>\n

The Faraday Caf\u00e9 \u2014 which will be open for just two weeks \u2014 is named after the\u00a0Faraday cage<\/b><\/a>, a device used in lab settings that blocks out electrical waves through the use of conductive material.<\/p>\n

Thomas feels \u2014 and says he senses many others do too \u2014 that something has been lost in the past few years.<\/p>\n

Wherever we are, we feel compelled to text or answer texts, tweet selfies, and constantly document our existence in the virtual world. Even if we aim to be alone and contemplate private thoughts, we\u2019re just an incoming text away from distraction.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a whole generation of people in this country that don\u2019t remember what life was like before Facebook,\u201d Thomas said in an interview Wednesday. \u201cI think people are looking for opportunities to opt out and leave their phones behind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas was rushing to put the final touches on his caf\u00e9 space, a white-walled room filled with aluminum window mesh. He and an architect partner had found that blocking out electromagnetic signals was harder to do than they had imagined.<\/p>\n

A flowing and multi-layered design of mesh walls and corridors provided the most visual appeal, but in testing several days ago they found that very small folds and gaps in the unboxy design allowed Internet signals to invade the room.<\/p>\n

So Thomas had to improvise, and constructed a \u201ccage\u201d in the centre of the caf\u00e9 which will be truly digital signal free.<\/p>\n

Thomas said the purpose of his caf\u00e9 experiment is not really to promote \u201canti-phone\u201d culture, but to get people thinking about seeking pockets of freedom in a wired world.<\/p>\n

He feels that using special architectural materials to block out virtual reality is taking the explicit no-phone policies already enforced in some venues, such as theatres or galleries, to the next level.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we can be reached at all times, I believe privacy is a privilege,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cPeople will want to go places where they can\u2019t be reached, where Google can\u2019t track them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Faraday Cafe, at 434 Columbia Street, will serve artisanal coffees by donation and feature special events and DJs, from July 3-16.<\/p>\n

scooper@theprovince.com<\/a><\/p>\n

twitter.com\/scoopercooper<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.theprovince.com\/Caf\u00e9+will+refuge+from+tyranny+digital+signals\/9994944\/story.html?__federated=1<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

video :\u00a0 “Escape the Internet at the Faraday Cafe” Internet-free Vancouver caf\u00e9 will be a refuge from the tyranny of digital signals BY SAM COOPER, THE PROVINCE\u00a0JULY 2, 2014 It could be argued that when we go out to dine or drink we ought to share the experience with the friends surrounding us, and perhaps […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[192,43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faraday-cage","category-vancouver"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4652"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4656,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4652\/revisions\/4656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}