Examples

Calm Tech is often so much a part of everyday life that we no longer notice it. The following examples are a way of exploring each Principle of Calm Technology by making the familiar noticible once again.

I. Technology should require the smallest possible amount of attention

Technology can communicate, but doesn’t need to speak.
Create ambient awareness through different senses.
Communicate information without taking the user out of their environment or task.

The Light Switch

A light switch contains the complexity and danger of electricity and allows for a simple on/off function.

The Footpull

A foot pull makes takes a simple metal plate and turns it into an affordance usable by an extra limb.

II. Technology should inform and create calm

A person's primary task should not be computing, but being human.
Give people what they need to solve their problem, and nothing more.

The Jawbone Up

The Jawbone Up has a single button and a colored status light. The device can be set to buzz after a short nap or at the optimum sleep cycle

Tactile Paving

Japan’s tactile strips use raised bumps to let passengers know they’re too close of the train platform.

III. Technology should make use of the periphery

A calm technology will move easily from the periphery of our attention, to the center, and back
The periphery is informing without overburdening.

Eyeglasses

Eyeglasses are a pass-through interface that allows people to focus through the lens instead of on the lens.

Glass Windows

Glass windows offer a pass-through understanding of what’s inside or outside without requiring someone to go there.

IV. Technology should amplify the best of technology and the best of humanity

Design for people first.
Machines shouldn't act like humans.
Humans shouldn't act like machines.
Amplify the best part of each.

Search engines match a search term to a list of results. More than 80% of the job is done by bots, and the rest – the choice and curation...

Panasonic Exoskeleton

Panasonic’s wearable exoskeleton helps humans lift heavy objects with reduced risk of injury.

V. Technology can communicate, but doesn’t need to speak

Does your product need to rely on voice, or can it use a different communication method?
Consider how your technology communicates status.

Roomba

Early models of the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner uses a chime when finished, and a secondary indicator light to show when it needs cleaning

Colorfil Filter

A color changing Colorfil filter indicates when it's time to change it.

VI. Technology should work even when it fails

Think about what happens if your technology fails.
Does it default to a usable state or does it break down completely?

Emergency Water Supply

Kyoto Yaoichi Honkan installed this wall to ensure water for domestic use during emergencies.

Automated Pet Feeder

Automated pet feeders should be able to work even when the power is out with back-up battery and offline feeding instructions.

Examples

I. Technology should require the smallest possible amount of attention

II. Technology should inform and create calm

A person's primary task should not be computing, but being human.

Give people what they need to solve their problem, and nothing more.

III. Technology should make use of the periphery

IV. Technology should amplify the best of technology and the best of humanity

Design for people first.

Machines shouldn't act like humans.

Humans shouldn't act like machines.

Amplify the best part of each.

V. Technology can communicate, but doesn’t need to speak

VI. Technology should work even when it fails

Think about what happens if your technology fails.

Does it default to a usable state or does it break down completely?

Designing our future through the past

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