February 15th, 2007 Calm Computing The coming Age of Calm Computing - Mark Weiser and John Seely Brown -What did everyone thinkg of the paper? - Different than the "Sal" paper - advocating peripheral and ambient display as part of the vision - Whyfor, Calm Computing? - Computer evolution - mainframes - expensive - operated by nerds - PCs - not nearly as expensive - still operated by nerds - "pc is dead" doesnt seem like it - internet era - distributed computing - lots of data sharing - "Mobile" computing - perhaps left out in Weiser's paper - Windows mobile etc... - Ubicomp - this is comthing -What is Calm Computing? -Attention has two places -Center - where your focus is -Periphery - informs without overwhelming (thats why its calm) - awareness without thinking about it, but you can focus your attention to it - can be moved to center to get control - try exercise - close eyes, think about where your attention is - think about where but is...where clothes are, etc - see how attention can shift, see where you mind is at - calm computing is devices that can move seemlessly through center and periphery - paper didnt discuss how we can "lose" attention and get distracted -When is something a calm technology - When it empowers our periphery: - Easily moves from center to periphery - Doesnt really define easily - does knowing something is going to come make it calm - expecting it to function the way it functions - is glancibility a key characteristic - Examples - Throbbing apple light -Printer turns on and off by itself -Bringing more details into periphery - Teleconferencing - Example 1 - office door window - lets in information about whats happening outside your office - Example 2 - Dancing String - based on network activity - bring invisible into periphery - Thoughts questions - Whats missing in this model? Is calm a defining feature of ubicomp - Historical context of papers helps to provided framework for it - also they completely missed the web Unremarkable Computing - Peter Tolmie, James Pycock, Tim Diggins, Allan Maclean, and Alain Karsenty - What does it mean ot be invisible? (as Weiser describes) - Method - Home is different from the office - Enthnomethodologically-informed ethnography -"focueses on the ways in which people make sense of their world, display this understanding to others, and produce the mutually shared social order in which they live." - Basically: - Live in peoples houses - think carefully about what stuff means -Goal: Understand home environment - Then: Examine the importance of routine - Scenario 1: - two moms meet at door - knocking is a message - Lessons Learned: - meanings are very specific to the participants and time and place - shared understand exists so they dont have to explina anything - Scenario 2: - Mom working - alarm goes of - not unusual - notable - unremarkable (she mad know remark about it) - How do you design if reactions are unpredictable? -Implications for Ubicomp - "so embeded so fitting so natural - invisibility in use - fit into the routine - context sensiteive and socially constructed Seeing the Invisible - Jeffrey Heer and Peter Khooshabeh