--- description: Some theaters in China use laser pointers to tell audience members to put away their phones, according to a recent report. title: China Has a Brilliant Way to Stop People From Looking at Their Phones image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Gadgets](/tag/gadgets/) ## Gadgets Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # China Has a Brilliant Way to Stop People From Looking at Their Phones During Shows  by [Lisa Eadicicco](/author/lisa-eadicicco/)  ## Lisa Eadicicco Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 15, 2016 2:16 PM CUT  by [Lisa Eadicicco](/author/lisa-eadicicco/)  ## Lisa Eadicicco Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 15, 2016 2:16 PM CUT Classroom teachers and construction workers have been using laser pointer for years, mostly to highlight details in a presentation or to check their levels. But theaters in China have found a new use for pocket-sized lasers: Shaming audience members into putting away their phones. The laser-shaming is becoming a common practice at some performance halls in China, like the Shanghai Grand Theater or the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing, [_The New York Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/15/arts/international/a-new-weapon-for-battling-cellphones-in-theaters-laser-beams.html?smid=tw-nytimesphoto&smtyp=cur&%5Fr=1 "undefined")reports. When a theater patron is caught using his or her mobile device, an usher will point a tiny infrared dot at the offender to alert them to stop using their phone. ### These Vintage Computer Ads Show We've Come a Long, Long Way  1974  1976  1976  1977 Picasa 3.0  1977  1978  1978  1980  1980  1981  1983  1983  1983  1984 This prevents employees from having to walk over to the audience member and alert them verbally, which can be disruptive during a performance. Ushers in Chinese venues are instructed to point these tiny lasers over a patron’s shoulder to avoid getting it in the person’s eyes, which can be potentially harmful. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4258924/china-laser-pointer-theater/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4258924/china-laser-pointer-theater/"},"headline":"China Has a Brilliant Way to Stop People From Looking at Their Phones During Shows","datePublished":"2016-03-15T14:16:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:44:05.907Z","description":"It involves lasers","url":"https://time.com/4258924/china-laser-pointer-theater/","keywords":["Gadgets","Tech","China","cell phones"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lisa Eadicicco","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/lisa-eadicicco/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/gadgets/","name":"Gadgets"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4258924/china-laser-pointer-theater/","name":"China Has a Brilliant Way to Stop People From Looking at Their Phones During Shows"}}]}] ```