Calm Tech Institute - Revision history

Caseorganic: /* About */

2026-08-26T10:14:18Z

About

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	===About===		===About===
	The Calm Tech Institute is an organisation that develops standards and certification for technology designed to work with human attention rather than against it. It was founded by [[Amber Case]] in 2024, and builds on the concept of calm technology developed by Mark Weiser ~~and John Seely Brown~~ at [[Xerox PARC]] in the 1990s.<ref>[https://www.calmtech.institute/calm-tech-principles Principles], Calm Tech Institute; see also [https://caseorganic.medium.com/designing-tech-that-finally-respects-our-time-humanity-announcing-the-calm-tech-institute-33bac541b133 the founding announcement].</ref>		The Calm Tech Institute is an organisation that develops standards and certification for technology designed to work with human attention rather than against it. It was founded by [[Amber Case]] in 2024, and builds on the concept of calm technology developed by Mark Weiser at [[Xerox PARC]] in the 1990s.<ref>[https://www.calmtech.institute/calm-tech-principles Principles], Calm Tech Institute; see also [https://caseorganic.medium.com/designing-tech-that-finally-respects-our-time-humanity-announcing-the-calm-tech-institute-33bac541b133 the founding announcement].</ref>

	The institute describes its work as "a process for designing technology that works with human attention, instead of against it."		The institute describes its work as "a process for designing technology that works with human attention, instead of against it."

Caseorganic: /* Calm Tech Certified */

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Calm Tech Certified

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	===Calm Tech Certified===		===Calm Tech Certified===
	The institute's principal instrument is '''Calm Tech ~~Certified™~~''', a standard established in 2024 with its first class of certified products announced in early 2025.<ref>[https://caseorganic.medium.com/announcing-calm-tech-certified-and-the-first-class-of-certified-products-8530082309cf Announcing Calm Tech Certified and the First Class of Certified Products].</ref>		The institute's principal instrument is '''Calm Tech Certified®''', a standard established in 2024 with its first class of certified products announced in early 2025.<ref>[https://caseorganic.medium.com/announcing-calm-tech-certified-and-the-first-class-of-certified-products-8530082309cf Announcing Calm Tech Certified and the First Class of Certified Products].</ref>

	Certification evaluates products against criteria including periphery engagement, tactility, material harmony and durability. It runs alongside a partner program for integrators.		Certification evaluates products against criteria including periphery engagement, tactility, material harmony and durability. It runs alongside a partner program for integrators.

Caseorganic: /* The Eight Principles */

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The Eight Principles

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	The institute describes its work as "a process for designing technology that works with human attention, instead of against it."		The institute describes its work as "a process for designing technology that works with human attention, instead of against it."

	===~~The~~ Eight Principles===		===Eight Principles of Calm Technology===
	~~The institute's stated principles of calm technology are:~~

	# Require the smallest possible amount of attention		# Require the smallest possible amount of attention
	# Inform and create calm		# Inform and create calm

Caseorganic: /* Related Reading */

2026-08-26T10:08:36Z

Caseorganic at 10:08, 26 August 2026

2026-08-26T10:08:08Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:08, 26 August 2026
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	===About===		===About===
	The Calm Tech Institute is an organisation that develops standards and certification for technology designed to work with human attention rather than against it. It was founded by [[Amber Case]] in 2024, and builds on the concept of calm technology developed by Mark Weiser and John Seely Brown at [[~~PARC Research\|~~Xerox PARC]] in the 1990s.<ref>[https://www.calmtech.institute/calm-tech-principles Principles], Calm Tech Institute; see also [https://caseorganic.medium.com/designing-tech-that-finally-respects-our-time-humanity-announcing-the-calm-tech-institute-33bac541b133 the founding announcement].</ref>		The Calm Tech Institute is an organisation that develops standards and certification for technology designed to work with human attention rather than against it. It was founded by [[Amber Case]] in 2024, and builds on the concept of calm technology developed by Mark Weiser and John Seely Brown at [[Xerox PARC]] in the 1990s.<ref>[https://www.calmtech.institute/calm-tech-principles Principles], Calm Tech Institute; see also [https://caseorganic.medium.com/designing-tech-that-finally-respects-our-time-humanity-announcing-the-calm-tech-institute-33bac541b133 the founding announcement].</ref>

	The institute describes its work as "a process for designing technology that works with human attention, instead of against it."		The institute describes its work as "a process for designing technology that works with human attention, instead of against it."
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	The institute's principal instrument is '''Calm Tech Certified™''', a standard established in 2024 with its first class of certified products announced in early 2025.<ref>[https://caseorganic.medium.com/announcing-calm-tech-certified-and-the-first-class-of-certified-products-8530082309cf Announcing Calm Tech Certified and the First Class of Certified Products].</ref>		The institute's principal instrument is '''Calm Tech Certified™''', a standard established in 2024 with its first class of certified products announced in early 2025.<ref>[https://caseorganic.medium.com/announcing-calm-tech-certified-and-the-first-class-of-certified-products-8530082309cf Announcing Calm Tech Certified and the First Class of Certified Products].</ref>

	Certification evaluates products against criteria including periphery engagement, tactility, material harmony and durability. It runs alongside a partner ~~programme~~ for integrators.		Certification evaluates products against criteria including periphery engagement, tactility, material harmony and durability. It runs alongside a partner program for integrators.

	The interesting move is structural rather than rhetorical. Design principles published as advice are widely admired and rarely applied, because nothing in a product's commercial evaluation depends on them. A certification mark attempts to change that by attaching the principles to a purchasing signal — the same mechanism used by energy ratings, organic labelling and fair trade marks. Whether it works depends on whether buyers come to look for it, which is an open question and the standard difficulty for any voluntary standard.		The interesting move is structural rather than rhetorical. Design principles published as advice are widely admired and rarely applied, because nothing in a product's commercial evaluation depends on them. A certification mark attempts to change that by attaching the principles to a purchasing signal — the same mechanism used by energy ratings, organic labelling and fair trade marks. Whether it works depends on whether buyers come to look for it, which is an open question and the standard difficulty for any voluntary standard.

Caseorganic: Created page with "===About=== The Calm Tech Institute is an organisation that develops standards and certification for technology designed to work with human attention rather than against it. It was founded by Amber Case in 2024, and builds on the concept of calm technology developed by Mark Weiser and John Seely Brown at Xerox PARC in the 1990s.[https://www.calmtech.institute/calm-tech-principles Principles], Calm Tech Institute; see also [https://caseorganic.m..."

2026-08-25T21:50:40Z

Created page with "===About=== The Calm Tech Institute is an organisation that develops standards and certification for technology designed to work with human attention rather than against it. It was founded by Amber Case in 2024, and builds on the concept of calm technology developed by Mark Weiser and John Seely Brown at Xerox PARC in the 1990s.<ref>[https://www.calmtech.institute/calm-tech-principles Principles], Calm Tech Institute; see also [https://caseorganic.m..."

New page

===About===
The Calm Tech Institute is an organisation that develops standards and certification for technology designed to work with human attention rather than against it. It was founded by [[Amber Case]] in 2024, and builds on the concept of calm technology developed by Mark Weiser and John Seely Brown at [[PARC Research|Xerox PARC]] in the 1990s.<ref>[https://www.calmtech.institute/calm-tech-principles Principles], Calm Tech Institute; see also [https://caseorganic.medium.com/designing-tech-that-finally-respects-our-time-humanity-announcing-the-calm-tech-institute-33bac541b133 the founding announcement].</ref>

The institute describes its work as "a process for designing technology that works with human attention, instead of against it."

===The Eight Principles===
The institute's stated principles of calm technology are:

# Require the smallest possible amount of attention
# Inform and create calm
# Make use of the periphery
# Amplify the best of technology and the best of humanity
# Communicate without speaking
# Still work when it fails
# The minimum tech needed to solve the problem
# Respect social norms

Two of these deserve particular note because they are unusual in design standards. '''"Still work when it fails"''' makes graceful degradation a criterion rather than an afterthought: a device whose basic function depends on a working network connection or a live server fails completely rather than partially, and the institute treats that as a design defect rather than an acceptable trade. '''"Respect social norms"''' brings the social consequences of a device — what it does to a room, to a conversation, to the people who did not buy it — inside the evaluation.

===Calm Tech Certified===
The institute's principal instrument is '''Calm Tech Certified™''', a standard established in 2024 with its first class of certified products announced in early 2025.<ref>[https://caseorganic.medium.com/announcing-calm-tech-certified-and-the-first-class-of-certified-products-8530082309cf Announcing Calm Tech Certified and the First Class of Certified Products].</ref>

Certification evaluates products against criteria including periphery engagement, tactility, material harmony and durability. It runs alongside a partner programme for integrators.

The interesting move is structural rather than rhetorical. Design principles published as advice are widely admired and rarely applied, because nothing in a product's commercial evaluation depends on them. A certification mark attempts to change that by attaching the principles to a purchasing signal — the same mechanism used by energy ratings, organic labelling and fair trade marks. Whether it works depends on whether buyers come to look for it, which is an open question and the standard difficulty for any voluntary standard.

===Relevance to Cyborg Anthropology===
Nearly every concept on this site describes a problem: [[Attention Economy|attention capture]], [[Frictional Interface|friction]], [[Continuous Partial Attention|fragmented attention]], [[Future Runoff|runoff]], devices that fail when a service ends. The Calm Tech Institute is an attempt to act on the diagnosis rather than restate it, and its criteria are worth reading as a compact list of what this body of critique implies for a physical product.

The durability and materials criteria in particular connect the attention argument to the [[Industrial Ecology|industrial ecology]] one: a device that is repairable, that does not depend on a remote service, and that ages well is both calmer and less wasteful, and the two properties turn out to have the same causes.

===Related Reading===
* [[Calm Technology]]
* [[Amber Case]]
* [[Xerox PARC]]
* [[mui Lab, Inc.]]
* [[Materials]]
* [[Natural Material]]
* [[Attention Economy]]

===External Links===
* [https://www.calmtech.institute/ Calm Tech Institute]

===References===
<references/>

[[Category:Organizations]]
[[Category:Calm Technology]]
[[Category:Design]]

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	* [[Materials]]		* [[Materials]]
	* [[Natural Material]]		* [[Natural Material]]
	* [[Attention Economy]]		* [[The Attention Economy]]

	===External Links===		===External Links===