Designing Calm Technology

TLDR

Network traffic is normally invisible, but the Dangling String makes it visible. The tool visualizes network bits through motion, sound, and touch. It conveys both light and heavy traffic, occupies no screen space, runs without software, relies on inexpensive hardware, and can be shared simultaneously. Its output integrates seamlessly with human perception, allowing users to benefit from peripheral cues without direct attention.

Abstract

Bits flowing through the wires of a computer network are ordinarily invisible. But a radically new tool shows those bits through motion, sound, and even touch. It communicates both light and heavy network traffic. Its output is so beautifully integrated with human information processing that one does not even need to be looking at it or near it to take advantage of its peripheral clues. It takes no space on your existing computer screen, and in fact does not use or contain a computer at all. It uses no software, only a few dollars in hardware, and can be shared by many people at the same time. It is called the Dangling String.