60 lines
6.9 KiB
Markdown
60 lines
6.9 KiB
Markdown
---
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author: Wikipedia
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title: Calm technology
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source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calm_technology
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clipped: 2024-06-23
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published: 2022-05-18
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topics:
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tags:
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- clipping
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---
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**Calm technology** or **calm design** is a type of [information technology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_technology "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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Weiser "Mark Weiser") and [John Seely Brown](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Seely_Brown "John Seely Brown") describe calm technology as "that which informs but doesn't demand our focus or attention."[^1]
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The use of calm technology is paired with [ubiquitous computing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubiquitous_computing "Ubiquitous computing") as a way to minimize the perceptible invasiveness of computers in everyday life.[^2]
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## Principles
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For a technology to be considered calm technology, there are three core principles it should adhere to:
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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 of attention and the periphery or that much of the information conveyed by the technology is present in the periphery rather than the center.
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2. The technology increases a user's use of his or her periphery. This creates a pleasant [user experience](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_experience "User experience") by not overburdening the user with information.
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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.[^1]
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## History
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The phrase "calm technology" was first published in the article "Designing Calm Technology", written by Mark Weiser and John Seely Brown in 1995.[^1] The concept had developed amongst researchers at the [Xerox Palo Alto Research Center](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_Palo_Alto_Research_Center "Xerox Palo Alto Research Center") in addition to the concept of ubiquitous computing.[^3]
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Weiser introduced the concept of calm technology by using the example of [LiveWire or "Dangling String"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalie_Jeremijenko#Live_Wire_(Dangling_String),_1995 "Natalie Jeremijenko"). It is an eight-foot (2.4 m) string connected to the mounted small electric motor in the ceiling. The motor is connected to a nearby [Ethernet cable](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethernet_cable "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.[^4]
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## Implementation and examples
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[Video conferences](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_conference "Video conference") are an example of calm technology. Information conveyed such as through [gestures](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gesture "Gesture") and [facial expressions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facial_expression "Facial expression") can be gathered, as opposed to [telephone conferences](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_conferencing "Telephone conferencing") which do not provide this peripheral information.[^5]
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[Smart homes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_home "Smart home") are an extension of calm technology due to their emphasis on awareness and adaptability to the user's needs.[^6]
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From 2001 to 2003, the [EU](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union "European Union") funded 17 projects under an initiative called "The Disappearing 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.[^7]
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## Future research
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Due to [mobile technology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_technology "Mobile technology") trends towards [pervasive computing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pervasive_computing "Pervasive computing"), [ambient intelligence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambient_intelligence "Ambient intelligence"), and [miniaturization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miniaturization "Miniaturization"), calm technology is becoming a more integral part of these devices.[^8]
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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.[^9]
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## See also
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+ [Human-centered computing (discipline)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human-centered_computing_(discipline) "Human-centered computing (discipline)")
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+ [Human-computer interaction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human-computer_interaction "Human-computer interaction")
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## External links
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+ ["Short list of classic papers on calm technology"](https://calmtech.com/papers.html). *calmtech.com*. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
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[^1]: Weiser, Mark (December 21, 1995). ["Designing Calm Technology"](https://www.karlstechnology.com/blog/designing-calm-technology/). Retrieved May 23, 2019.
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[^2]: Tugui, Alexandru (2004). ["Calm Technologies In A Multimedia World"](http://ubiquity.acm.org/article.cfm?id=985617). ACM Digital Library.
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[^3]: Weiser, Mark; Gold, Rich and Brown, John Seely (1999). ["The origins of ubiquitous computing research at PARC in the late 1980s"](http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?arnumber=5387055). IBM Systems Journal.
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[^4]: Hohl, Michael (2009). ["Calm Technologies 2.0: Visualising Social Data as an Experience in Physical Space"](https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/handle/10012/4065). Parsons Journal For Information Mapping.
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[^5]: Tugui, Alexandru (2011). ["Calm Technologies: A New Trend for Educational Technologies"](http://www.wfs.org/Upload/PDFWFR/WFR_Spring2011_Tugui.pdf). World Future Review. \[*[dead link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot "Wikipedia:Link rot")*\]
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[^6]: Rogers, Yvonne (2006). ["Moving on from Weiser's Vision of Calm Computing: Engaging UbiComp Experiences"](http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/cambridge/projects/hci2020/pdf/Rogers_Ubicomp06.pdf). Microsoft Research.
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[^7]: European Commission - US National Science Foundation (2004). ["The Disappearing Computer"](http://www.ercim.eu/EU-NSF/DC.pdf). The European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics.
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[^8]: Fiaidhi, Jinan; Chou, Wes; Williams, Joseph (2010). ["Mobile Computing in the Context of Calm Technology"](http://piim.newschool.edu/journal/issues/2009/03/pdfs/ParsonsJournalForInformationMapping_Hohl-Michael.pdf). IT Professional Magazine.
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[^9]: Levin, Vladimir (2008). ["Evaluating Unattended Technology, a Subset of Calm Technology"](https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/handle/10012/4065). University of Waterloo. |