Introducing the smartphone isolation box: 'DistractaGone' locks up your device and will only release it once the timer goes off

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For parents with teenagers who are addicted to their phones, or to hosts of a dinner party who struggle to maintain the attention of guests throughout the nice, this is an ideal invention.

A crowdfunding campaign has been launched to help fund a new smartphone isolation box called DistractaGone, which is the brainchild of a team based in Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

The reinforced digital box - which fits up to four phones at a time - is locked by entering a time code, and will only open once the timer has expired, be that 10 minutes or a few hours.

Smartphone box: DistracataGone will lock up four phones for a predetermined amount of time

The device is locked with a time code, and will only open when the time has fully expired 

A promotional video for the lock box shows it as a the perfect feature of a dinner party, where phones can be, for example, locked up for two hours at a time

The Kickstarter campaign has already raised $19,489 of the $44,936 goal, with 328 backers onboard.

DistractaGone 'offers a simple solution to smartphone distraction', according to the campaign.

'Thank you for not looking at your phone for a minute to read more about the DistractaGone,' the page reads.

'This device locks up to four phones (smaller and plus size models) for a time that you decide. Once it’s locked it can’t be opened (without furiously forcing it). 

'This offers you a period without constant distraction.' 

The reinforced box is perfect for a dinner table, be it for family or at a dinner party

DistractaGone offers a simple solution to smartphone distraction by locking up four phones 

The promotional video for the box shows it as a way for people to find peace at home or at work, or enjoy the company of friends and family. 

It even shows some self-imposed phone exile, with a man seen enjoying a pamper session in the bath, with the box sitting nearby. 

It also shows a parent taking the phone from a teenager for a 'time out', and two social settings where the group all surrender their phones. 

The Kickstarter campaign has been met with general excitement online, mostly in Europe, with some even suggesting the box should even be stronger, and not be able to be forced open.

DistractaGone operates on AA batteries and measures at 166x85x60mm. 

Time-out: The device is being pushed as the ideal solution to imposed phone detachment