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As It Happens

Bar owner blocks cell phone signals to force patrons to interact with each other

A British bar owner was disappointed that his patrons would rather look down at their phones than talk to each other. So he lined the walls with foil and copper to block cellular signals - and business has never been better.
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For centuries, a British pub has been the place where folks come to be social and have a drink. Now patrons have their face in their phone and interact with people who aren't even in the bar. (Getty)
As It Happens6:45Bar owner blocks cell phone signals to force patrons to interact with each other

A bar owner in the U.K. has solved the problem of antisocial behavior in his establishment. He's blocked all cellular signals into his bar, thereby forcing his patrons to actually talk to each other.

"Basically I've installed a Faraday cage. It blocks phone signals, so rather than jamming cellphone signals, it doesn't allow them in and relieves my customers the burden of checking their phones every 5 seconds," Steve Tyler, owner of the Gin Tub in Hove, U.K. tells As It Happens guest host Rachel Giese.

The Gin Tub in Hove, U.K. wants patrons to interact with each other, not be on their cell phones. (Gin Tub)

British pubs have for centuries been the centre of social life in small and large communities. Tyler saw the atmosphere being drained out of his pub by the cell phones of his customers and decided to take action.

"It's been over a period of years where it's progressively worse where people are using their phones more and more and ignoring each other more and more," says Tyler. "I wanted to bring back the atmosphere of an old fashioned British pub where people talk to people and not interact with people who are not in the bar."

Tyler put tinfoil inside his walls to create a do-it-yourself faraday cage. (Source)

A Faraday cage works by blocking electromagnetic signals from reaching items inside the cage. They are generally used to protect sensitive equipment from radio interference and have recently been used inside wallets to stop thieves from stealing RF data from people who use the tap feature on credit and debit cards.

Tyler lined his ceiling with copper mesh he found in the garage and put heavy silver foil inside the walls. He also installed plain old phone lines at the tables of the bar so people can phone their order into the bar or talk with other tables. "You can still have a conversation on the phone, but only with people in the bar," says Tyler.

circa 1957: The regulars and bar staff at a public house in Windlesham, Surrey. (Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Tyler says patrons are responding well to the change.

"It's gone back 25 years. Back then when you walked into the bar, you would be deafened by the noise of people talking. Now you walk into a bar and you're deafened by the background music because no one is talking to each other. Well, we actually had to turn the music up the other night because the talking was so loud!"

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