Placed in an unused corner of a hallway, the long string is visible and audible from many offices without being obtrusive. It is fun and useful. We have struggled for some time to understand the design of calm technology, and our thoughts are still incomplete and perhaps even a bit confused. Nonetheless, we believe that calm technology may be the most important design problem of the twenty-first century, and it is time to begin the dialogue. The Periphery Designs that encalm and inform meet two human needs not usually met together.
Information technology is more often the enemy of calm.
But some technology does lead to true calm and comfort. We believe the difference is in how they engage our attention. Calm technology engages both the center and the periphery of our attention, and in fact moves back and forth between the two. Ordinarily when driving our attention is centered on the road, the radio, our passenger, but not the noise of the engine. But an unusual noise is noticed immediately, showing that we were attuned to the noise in the periphery, and could come quickly to attend to it.