If you’ve ever walked into a lamppost or stepped out into traffic while texting or tweeting, a new fake app called “Ignorify” is good for a chuckle.
“Frankly, looking away from your phone is kind of for old people,” says the mock entrepreneur in the video, played by Steve O’Brien. Ignorify, he explains, helps you navigate the real world by warning you about obstacles and telling you when it’s safe to cross the street.
(MORE: The 140 Best Twitter Feeds of 2012)
“Because for today’s busy phone user, no one has time to look up,” O’Brien deadpans.
The video was created for this year’s Shorty Awards, which honor people’s contributions to social media. Shorty creators Lee Semel and Greg Galant produced the video.
As CNet points out, apps like Type’n’View for iPhone and Walk and Text for Android come close to what Ignorify pretends to offer, using the phone’s camera to show what’s ahead as you type. But unlike Ignorify, those apps don’t alert you when there’s an obstacle underfoot, nor will they automatically call an ambulance when they detect you’ve been hit by a car.
The parody is basically the opposite of Reality.li, a “social network based in real life” that “re-launched” last year. (“I guess people just forgot about us,” Reality’s CEO Al Donai said in a mock press release.) An app like Ignorify would ensure that Reality never intrudes.
(MORE: Why Combining Social Media Sites Can Be Hazardous to Your Privacy)