Phantom ring

Posted: December 21st, 2006 | 8 Comments »

According to the Urban Dictionnary, a phantom ring is:

Term used to describe when someone thinks they hear their cell-phone ringing or feel it vibrating in their pocket when it’s actually not.

“Excuse me a sec… aw sorry, it was a phantom ring.”
or
“Yes! Finally she called me back *reaches in pocket*
Dang it.. phantom ring.”

Why do I blog this? I like this idea of “phantom” phenomenon, very well connected to perceptual issues in cognitive sciences and the current trend about “magic” in the ubiquitous computing discourse.

8 Comments on “Phantom ring”

  1. 1 adria said at 1:20 am on December 22nd, 2006:

    I have definitely experienced both phantom rings and vibrations. I think the phenomenon of the phantom vibration is quite a bit stranger than the phantom ring. I mean, it is easy to understand how you could hear something that sounds like your phone, but how is it possible to think you felt a vibration when you didn’t? It is actually kind of scary, and it happens to me all the time.

  2. 2 Emily Turrettini said at 9:39 am on December 22nd, 2006:

    See article from The New York Times on “audio illusion, phantom phone rings or, more whimsically, ringxiety or fauxcellarm” which has become a new reason for people to either bemoan the techno-saturation of modern life or question their sanity.

    And
    News.com who reports on the phenomenon – “of falsely believing you hear your mobile phone ringing or vibrating – is so widespread it has an official name: “ringxiety” and it’s really the subconscious calculating how popular we are.”

  3. 3 Nicolas said at 10:25 am on December 22nd, 2006:

    Thanks Emily for these precisions, I only ran across this term yesterday and I quite like this wording

  4. 4 Chris Thompson said at 4:04 pm on December 23rd, 2006:

    I get phantom vibrations even when I don’t have my phone. I always keep it in the same front pants pocket, and after a while, I feel my leg muscle tremble a little right in that area. Could my phone’s electromagnetic fields be causing my muscles to spasm therefore giving me that phantom vibration? I now try and keep it as far away from me as possible.

  5. 5 evan said at 9:13 pm on December 23rd, 2006:

    No, your body is not affected by electromagnetism and anyone who says it is, is a snake oil salesman or a lawyer.

  6. 6 gregol said at 12:49 pm on December 24th, 2006:

    well evan can you prove your affirmation.

    magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

    A diagnostic radiological modality, using nuclear magnetic resonance technology, in which the magnetic nuclei (especially protons) of a patient are aligned in a strong, uniform magnetic field, absorb energy from tuned radiofrequency pulses, and emit radiofrequency signals as their excitation decays. These signals, which vary in intensity according to nuclear abundance and molecular chemical environment, are converted into sets of tomographic (selected planes) images by using field gradients in the magnetic field, which permits 3-dimensional localization of the point sources of the signals.

    btw i have those phantom vibs often, but i kind of like them. :-)

    greg

  7. 7 BasslineBenny said at 4:23 pm on January 18th, 2007:

    “The Phantom” a cult superhero wore the “Phantom Rings”

  8. 8 BasslineBenny said at 4:23 pm on January 18th, 2007:

    http://www.phantomania.net/phanrngj.htm

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