Central Saint Martins graduate Keyi Chen has reinterpreted everyday desk accessories as stress-relieving devices called Inte-rest-ing that encourage people who work long hours to play at their desks.
Chen has created five commonplace office items that can also be used as tools to relieve the stress of a long working day, for his Inte-rest-ing project.
The mouse judges the worker's mood and triggers an email pop-up about a diverting topic
Chen worked on the Inte-rest-ing series following a period of research into working culture in China and around the world.
He found that employees felt ashamed of taking breaks in their working day and didn't feel able to express their personality in the work place.
Some reported slowing down in order to appear busier and more productive to their bosses, as staying at work late is often associated with hard work. The pen rattles as the user writes to relieve stress
Chen also built a set of easy-to-complete games into the calculator, that get around the fact that employees are constantly monitored by managers at work.
"When staff feel bored or tired at work, they can relax and entertain themselves with a quick game and they do not have to worry about being caught by their manager while potentially breaking the rules in an open office," he said.
"By disguising relaxation activities via the most common office activities, perhaps the manager will think that you are calculating projects."
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