User:HCI-tastic/sandbox

Calm technology is a type of information technology where the interaction between the technology and its user is designed to occur in the user’s periphery rather than constantly at the center of attention. Information from the technology smoothly shifts to the user’s attention when needed but otherwise stays calmly in the user’s periphery. Mark Weiser and John Seely Brown describe calm technology as "that which informs but doesn't demand our focus or attention."

The use of calm technology is paired with ubiquitous computing as a way to minimize the perceptible invasiveness of computers in everyday life.

Principles of Calm Technology
For a technology to be considered calm technology, there are three core principles it should adhere to:
 * 1) The user’s attention to the technology must reside mainly in the periphery. This means that either the technology can easily shift between the center and the periphery or that much of the information conveyed by the technology is present in the periphery rather than the center of attention.
 * 2) The technology increases a user’s use of his or her periphery. This creates a pleasant user experience by not overburdening the user with information.
 * 3) The technology relays a sense of familiarity to the user and allows awareness of the user’s surroundings in the past, present, and future.

History
The phrase “calm technology” was first published in the article “Designing Calm Technology”, written by Mark Weiser and John Seely Brown in 1995. The concept had developed amongst researchers at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center in addition to the concept of ubiquitous computing.

Weiser introduced the concept of calm technology by using an example of LiveWire or “Dangling String”. It is a 8 foot string connected to the mounted small electric motor in the ceiling. The motor is connected to a nearby Ethernet cable. When a bit of information flows through that Ethernet cable, it causes a twitch of the motor. The more the information flows, the motor runs faster, thus creating the string to dangle or whirl depending on how much network traffic is. It has aesthetic appeal; it provides a visualization of network traffic but without being obtrusive.

Implementation and Examples
From 2001-2003, the EU funded 17 projects under an initiative called “The Disappering Computer.” The goal of this initiative was to explore new concepts and techniques that would lead to the development of calm technologies for people-friendly environments. Smart homes are an extension of calm technology due to their emphasis on awareness and adaptability to the user’s needs.

Future Research
Mobile technology enables further research on calm technology since it meets the following functionalities of calm technology: pervasive computing, ambient intelligence, and miniaturization.

The initial concept of calm technology is developing into the idea that computers will disappear physically as well as mentally. For a physical disappearance, this implies that computers will become so small that they are no longer perceivable. For a mental disappearance, people will no longer perceive the technologies as computers. Instead, they will be considered as embedded elements in the environment. One example is a pen or small tool that also can project information.

Another development of calm technology is its transformation into unattended technology, where the technology always exists in the periphery and never requires central attention from the user.