'Phantom' mobile phone vibrations: why we get them

Professor Alex Blaszczynski of the School of Psychology at the University of Sydney has a scientific explanation from fanthom vibrations — when you hear your phone vibrate —  but no one is actually calling you. The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

According to Blaszczynski, the vibration people felt was not "phantom" nor related to an addiction but "a real sensation" similar to what occurs when you place your mobile near a speaker and hear a buzzing sound when it's communicating with a tower.

That sound, caused by electromagnetic interference (EMI), occurs even when a mobile isn't receiving a text message or ringing, and it can often happen when the mobile is doing what is known as a "hand shake" with a mobile tower, he said.

The "burst of electrical activity" in that hand shake affects skin nerves, causing transcutaneous muscle stimulation and giving the impression of a vibration, he believes.

According to Rob Nokes, president of Sound Dogs, a sound effects company in California.", phantom rings are a "psycho-acoustic phenomenon" related to the way the human brain interprets sound.

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According to The Telegraph, smartphones are so addictive many users now hear “phantom vibrations” because they are desperate to receive new messages, a study has found. The findings will be presented to the British Psychological Society’s Division of Occupational Psychology Conference in Chester. [via SmartMobs]

... Some people are so hooked to their devices that they even begin to experience “phantom” vibrations where they mistakenly believe their phone is buzzing in their pocket, it was claimed.

First written about in 1996 - Click here for links to articles related to audio illusion, phantom phone rings or ringxiety and fauxcellarm.