Nokia’s New Smartphone Is Triggering People With Fear Of Holes

Nokia/Wikipedia

Phones are always changing to keep up with ever-advancing technology, and while Nokia’s latest model certainly looks futuristic, people with a fear of holes are not impressed.

As everything around us becomes wireless you’d think there wouldn’t really be a need for holes in smartphones any more. Apple has already scrapped the headphone slot, and wireless charging is becoming increasingly popular, leaving very little reason for there to be any openings in our devices.

But when it comes to smartphones, apparently as we lose holes in some areas, we gain them in others.

Nokia

As the Huawei Mate 20 Pro taught us, more is more when it comes to camera lenses, and Nokia have beat their three lenses with five.

The Nokia 9 PureView was announced at the 2019 MWC tech show, and features a ‘penta-camera’ with five lenses, as well as a light and infrared sensor for detecting depth.

While you should definitely be able to take a good photo with the phone’s excessive camera, those on the other end of the phone might be disturbed by the seven holes looming in on them.

Trypophobia is the aversion to the sight of clusters of small holes or bumps. Unfortunately for Nokia, the layout of their camera means certain people can’t even look at their new phone without becoming uncomfortable.

Explaining the averse reaction to the Metro, Dr Geoff Cole, a senior lecturer at the University of Essex’s Centre for Brain Research, said:

When a person takes a picture of you, the camera on this phone could fall roughly at a distance and alignment which could trigger a trypophobic response.

The camera really does have the structure to cause trypophobia.

Nokia

He went on to explain how those with trypophobia might react to seeing a trigger, saying:

I get letters and emails all the time which say things like: “I couldn’t go to work for three days when I saw an image.”

Others say they find it hard to concentrate after viewing one. For many people, they see something bad and it keeps playing on their mind. That’s a common one.

As images of Nokia’s new design are spread across the internet, many people have taken to social media to complain about it being a trigger for their condition:

While the phone may be good for wannabe professional photographers out there, Nokia might have lost a few sales with their unfortunate camera design.

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Emily Brown

Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.