Urgent Evoke

A crash course in changing the world.

Creating "Transparent" Technologies

so what does it mean to make a technology "transparent"? according to Amy Smith, this has two parts.

a) technology that is easily understood by the user.

the problem is, much like the theme and title of the book by Alan Cooper, 'the inmates are running the asylum.' technology has been created and designed by engineers, often without thought as to expected behavior of controls or cultural aspects of use. as an engineer myself, i know that it can be quite easy to fall into the trap of using either just 'what works' or 'something interesting'. as a result, the final offering has been forced on people, and we have just gotten used to it.


in truth, i have been involved in this in a number of different ways. specifically, i have researched embodied/natural/tangible interfaces for computers. this includes things like touchscreens, physical object manipulation as in Microsoft Surface, and the Nintendo Wii Remote. in general, technology has progressed to the point that it should now be easier and more natural than ever to learn and use. watching people play the Wii or use an iPhone has made this fact very clear to me. i have observed people with little to no background in the use of any technologies use these items almost immediately, with almost no learning curve. this is because these types of tools for controlling software are based around how we manipulate the physical world.

cultural aspects must be considered as well. a device or abstraction that may be commonplace in one culture may be awkward for those of another culture. for example, a technology based on an understanding of American football strategy and terminology might seem simple in the USA and a few other places, but much of the world would face a steep learning curve.

b) technology that promotes local innovation.

this is a point that is difficult to define. the technology should be a tool that people can use to create further improvements and innovations. it should open, not restrict, the mind and imagination. the technology should not be a replacement or a sort of 'end all be all'. it should be a tool that both has functionality on its own, as well as a possible usefulness in later ideas and inventions.

a new system of shipping water to a town may be immediately useful and necessary, but would not ultimately solve the underlying problem of a shortage of water. a portable water filtering system may be utilized as part of a larger project to improve irrigation and replenish closed sources of water. this is a technology that improves a process, and could work as a foundation for more technologies.

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