Google Creates Distraction-Free Alerts That Engage With House Plants To Calm You
As part of its Little Signals series, Google is playing around with a new form of notifications: distraction-less alerts.
Instead of the loud pings and buzzes that let you know if a new email or message is in, the technology giant’s Seed Studio—which teams up with designers to create a video series featuring the inspiration behind their unique products—has partnered London-based design consultancy Map Project Office to develop six devices that aim to notify users with subtle systems.
Dubbed ‘Air’, ‘Button’, ‘Movement’, ‘Rhythm’, ‘Shadow’, and ‘Tap’, each of the systems uses a simple design element to alert the user to alarms, deliveries at the door, or that dreaded office text.
For example, as per BGR, ‘Air’ harnesses pulses of air to interact with nearby plants or signals in patterns of ‘blow’, ‘wiggle’, or ‘spin’ to catch your attention while not being in your face.
‘Button’, as its name suggests, pops up, twists, or chimes with its orange hue when you need to be notified, while ‘Movement’ makes use of seven pegs that move, bounce, or even mimic the pattern of a graph to alert your senses.
With ‘Rhythm’, calming and ambient sounds are used instead of the anxiety-inducing alarm tunes we’re used to and allows you to acknowledge the notifications just by sweeping your hand over it.
Though it may be harder to tell than the others, ‘Shadow’ casts different shapes that shake, stretch, or rotate to convey information to the users, with ‘Tap’ interacting with surfaces through knocking, waving, pointing, or spinning to tip off the user.
Overall, the project hopes to show that just as everyday objects may find simple ways to inform us of our surroundings—like the moving hands on an analog clock—Little Signals hopes to bring the same reminders to users while maintaining “moments of calm.”
Take a look at the gadgets in action below.
