Calm Technology

Life has become fast pace, mediums of interaction are radically changing, and the communications we do are larger in number. People want to perform more and more functions at the click of a button. In such a scenario, even taking out one’s phone from the pocket every time one receives a notification is tedious.
A smart watch makes it easier, helping us to deal with notifications the right away since they appear on the wrist instantly, and enable us to react to it on time. It provides small chunks of information to keep us updated like the news feed, live sports data, weather forecast, email updates and so on.

In this project, I got an opportunity to work with Cube26, Delhi, which is a tech startup working for mobile interfaces and devices. My brief was to design the user experience for a smart watch and build an interface for it.

The idea was to create a smart watch, which is based on the android operating system but offers a new experience in terms of usability. First I focused on understanding the platform, and providing alternate solutions for it. This required me to do a careful user study. Through this project, I got to work on a platform with different forms and functionalities. While working on this, I had to face several challenges such as small screen size, large amount of information, and user behaviour. It gave me a chance to understand how a mobile platform works, and an opportunity to scale it down to a small screen and recreate the environment to build micro interactions around it.



Wearable Tech, Interface Design, User Experience of Smartwatch Volume: 1 of 1 Sponsor: Cube26, Delhi

Graduation Project Thesis

Ambient intelligence originates from the confluence of ubiquitous computing, sensor networks, artificial intelligence, and human-computer interaction design. The vision it promotes is one of a world where technology is deeply integrated into our physical environments, where systems work cooperatively to support people in carrying out their everyday life activities, and where intelligence derived from sensor networks is used to learn, anticipate, and adapt to the user’s needs. Tailor aims to explore the ideals present in ambient technology by imagining what it would be like to embed computation into our clothing. Following this pursuit, we propose the creation of a system that can autonomously learn from the occurring interactions between a user and their clothing, that can use this knowledge to anticipate user needs, and that can be merged into the environment to support natural and human interaction styles.

En este artículo se explica el proceso de diseño de información para una GUI de chat en un dispositivo móvil, en el cual se plantean métodos para la extracción de información en los usuarios y se llevan a cabo otras actividades con las cuales se busca que la interfaz resultante refleje el paradigma de Calm Technology, incorporando la visualización esquemática como apoyo. Además, se comentan los resultados de aplicar pruebas de comunicabilidad y se introduce un nuevo enfoque de diseño de interfaces basado en los modos de persuasión de la retórica.

While brass pedagogy has traditionally focussed on
sound output, the importance of bodily posture to
both short-term performance and longer-term injury
prevention is now widely recognized. Postrum II is a
Linux-based system for trumpet players that
performs real-time analysis of posture and uses a
combination of visual and haptic feedback to try to
correct any posture issues that are found. Issues
underpinning the design of the system are discussed,
the transition from Mac OS X to Ubuntu detailed,
and some possibilities for future work suggested.

In this paper we present our research into the next generation of calm technologies utilizing information visualization where data is not rendered as graphs, charts, or diagrams on the screen, but as a sensual experience in physical space. It introduces a number of examples to establish the context and relevance for communication design and proceeds with presenting our current research framework in which the social activity of visiting a website is visualized in real-time, in the form of a natural and sensual display. The paper argues that a mediator between us and an overly intrusive Social Media such as Twitter, Friendfeed, and the approaching ‘realtime web’ is needed. This mediator should have minimal and reduced cues of expression while not sacrificing the warm and personal voice of a web-blog.

Este artigo apresenta o desenvolvimento de um sistema de visualização de dados relativos à qualidade do ar na cidade do Rio de Janeiro. O projeto fundamenta-se na proposta de Tecnologia Calma de Weiser e Brown (1996), e o sistema de visualização de dados desenvolvido segue os princípios dos Sistemas de Informação Ambiente. A visualização de dados é tratada como ferramenta de empoderamento, numa perspectiva de propiciar a discussão e o engajamento do cidadão no contexto das Cidades Inteligentes. O projeto utiliza uma metodologia orientada pela experimentação e prototipação, mantendo ciclos sucessivos em que cada protótipo produzido é analisado criticamente, gerando subsídios para a versão seguinte. Parte-se de uma discussão sobre os conceitos de Tecnologia Calma, Sistemas de Informação Ambiente e Cidades Inteligentes, para em seguida descrever o desenvolvimento do sistema de visualização de dados, discriminando os processos envolvidos, tecnologias empregadas, os partidos adotados e resultados obtidos.
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This article presents the development of a data visualization system depicting air quality in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The project is based on the concept of Calm Technology from Weiser and Brown (1996), and the data visualization system developed follows the principles of Ambient Information Systems. Data visualization is treated as an empowerment tool, aiming to foster citizen engagement and participation, in the context of Smart Cities. The project uses a design methodology which is guided by experimentation and prototyping, maintaining successive cycles in which each produced prototype is analyzed, generating subsidies for the next version. The article starts with a discussion about the general concepts of Calm Tencology, Ambient Information Systems and Smart Cities. Next, we describe the development of the data visualization system, describing the processes involved, the technologies employed and the results achieved.

ABSTRACT In everyday life, we are able to perform various activities simultaneously without consciously paying attention to them. For example, we can easily read a newspaper while drinking coffee. This latter activity takes place in our background or periphery of attention. Contrarily, interactions with computing technology usually require focused attention. With interactive technologies becoming increasingly present in the everyday environment, it is essential to explore how these technologies could be developed such that people can interact with them both in the focus and in the periphery of attention. This upcoming field of Peripheral Interaction aims to fluently embed interactive technology into everyday life. This workshop brings together researchers and practitioners from different disciplines to share research and design work and to further shape the field of Peripheral Interaction.