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I spend enough time looking at screens as it is, so a wearable that reminds me to take a break without adding another screen to my life sounds very appealing. That’s the idea behind Arc, a silver bracelet from Belgian design studio Futurewave that gives your wrist a gentle vibration when you’ve spent too long on the phone.
Arc lets you use a portal on your phone to select the apps you want to monitor and set a time limit, such as 30 minutes of uninterrupted use. When you reach that threshold, the bracelet delivers a subtle pulse. Keep scrolling and you’ll get one more nudge before you fall silent and start a new interval.
There is no display, no audible alarm and no running out of your screen time to make you feel guilty. Futurewave says the system does not store usage history or require an account or subscription. It’s a simple reminder to break the spell of endless scrolling, rather than another app demanding your attention.
Smart tech hidden in a sculptural silver bracelet
What makes the Arc great is that it doesn’t look like a fitness tracker or another piece of tech on your wrist. Its open, rounded shape takes inspiration from the ancient torc, a type of metal ornament worn around the neck or wrist, with an organic shape that attracts everything from beetles to seed pods.
The bracelet is designed to be cast in argentium silver, an alloy chosen for its premium finish. Inside, a piezoelectric element produces vibrations, while a low-power microcontroller handles the Bluetooth connection to your phone. A curved 25mAh battery and flexible circuit board are tucked away in the sculptural design, keeping the technology out of sight.
Futurewave wants the Arc to remain a gem in its own right, even if the electronics eventually stop working. So, unlike a smartwatch that becomes obsolete when its software or battery dies, the bracelet can still have a life as silver jewelry.
There’s just one catch, Arc is currently a concept, developed through 3D-printed studies and prototypes, with no confirmed price or release date. That means you can’t buy one yet. But if Futurewave brings it to market, I’d be very interested in one.