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Fluid Friction makes your thumb work for the next swipe

Manfred and Gustav Mjengwa put a small, playful obstacle between you and the next swipe.

Work by Manfred Bergdal Mjengwa × Gustav Mtenji Bergdal MjengwaSeptember 20261 min read

The Fluid Friction theme picker, eighteen coloured blobs named Neon Glow, Champagne, Cola, Cotton Candy and more, under the line Every scroll deserves its own feel — Fluid Friction by Manfred Bergdal Mjengwa × Gustav Mtenji Bergdal Mjengwa

You reach for the next post and your thumb meets resistance. Fluid Friction makes you drag through a simulated wave before the feed moves on. The gesture you were doing without thinking suddenly needs a little attention.

Manfred Bergdal Mjengwa and Gustav Mtenji Bergdal Mjengwa built the app around that interruption. It adds a physical-feeling bit of effort to scrolling, making an everyday habit oddly playful.

Manfred presented it at the Erasmus AI Society x Anthropic hackathon in Rotterdam. In his account of the event, he says the project won the Societal Impact Award.

Fluid Friction by Manfred Bergdal Mjengwa × Gustav Mtenji Bergdal Mjengwa

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