The Calm Tech Institute pioneers research and standards for technology that enhances our lives without overwhelming us. Learn about our mission, principles, and commitment to digital wellbeing.
Home | Calm Tech Institute - Harmonious Design Principles
The Calm Tech Institute exists to redefine how people think about human-technology interaction, and provide a new UX standard for designing technologies that improve human life.
The Complete Calm Tech Certified™ Product List for 2025
In 2025, our list of certified products include Alarm Clocks, Digital Signage, Picture Frames, Notebooks/Productivity, Mobile Phones and Home Audio
Calm Technology
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".
Ali Alkhatib: On techno-optimism
I’ve got a longer draft in the works, but I don’t think that’s going to become a blog post, so I figure it might be useful to publish something here and solicit feedback, or just plant a flag in the ground that this was a thing I did. Last week Several weeks ago I gave a talk at Wayne State University titled “the uncanny pessimism of techno-optimism”. In this post I’m going to breeze through some of the stuff I talked about and give a sense of what’ll be coming. Eventually.
Creative Computing Institute
Working at the intersection of creativity and computational technologies.
How Big Tech Co-opted DIY – and how to Fight Back | The Quietus
As technology has developed in the last twenty years, it has brought with it a sense of enablement. Over time, access to nearly everything has become simpler, and as such, the message from Silicon Valley and its offshoots was that you can do it all. I have worked in the music industry since the late […]
Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology
A witty, often terrifying that chronicles our transform…
The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Education and Workforce Trajectories in Tech: A Workshop
Convened by the National Academies’ Action Collaborative on Education and Workforce Trajectories in Tech, The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Education and Workforce Trajectories in Tech is a one-day exploratory workshop examining how AI is altering the value of human expertise, organizational workforce structures, and career pathways in the tech sector. Bringing together leaders from higher education, industry, and research institutions, discussions will consider how education and workforce systems can prepare individuals with the ethical, technical, and analytical capabilities needed to adapt and thrive in an AI-impacted landscape.
Ali Alkhatib: On techno-optimism
VIBE - the AI ✨ for your social life
VIBE is an emotionally intelligent AI designed to help you build deeper, more meaningful relationships with the people you care about
Our mission - Future of Life Institute
FLI steers transformative technology away from large-scale risks. Read more about the Future of Life Institute's Mission, principles and initiatives.
How the Protocol Institute is Adopting AI
What building a research institute at 100% adoption actually looks like
Collective Action School
Explore how you can remake tech. Tech worker organizing, unionizing, and building different technologies
