Towards a silent revolution of calm technology – thin interfaces, pass-through and cognitive sustainability

The driver navigates menus instead of roads. The smart home demands constant gestures. IoT devices multiply, each clamoring for attention. Despite promise of human-centred technology, current design practices fragment attention and overload the mind. This article positions cognitive sustainability as both ethical imperative and design principle, arguing that calm technology must evolve from peripheral concern to a core criterion – creating interfaces that sustain rather than deplete attention.

Author: Harri Heikkilä

The transition to the so-called Fifth Industrial Wave, or Industry 5.0, is grounded in a human-centred paradigm. At its core, this approach demands that technology must serve the human being, rather than compelling people to adapt to technological constraints. (Heikkilä 2023.) While this principle may appear self-evident or even obvious, the reality in current practice is quite different. Too often, the implementation of technology obscures this ideal, and it is far from being a universal standard.

Modern digital interfaces frequently compete for our attention, increasing cognitive load and fragmenting our ability to concentrate. Rather than supporting users, technologies distract and overwhelm, making it more challenging to maintain focus. Without a significant paradigm shift in design thinking, this issue is likely to intensify in the future.

Digital dashboards of modern cars are an apt example. The physical knobs and switches, once recognizable by touch have been replaced by touchscreens that require visual confirmation. Instead of driving, the driver navigates menus. Volkswagen was eventually forced to restore mechanical controls following user complaints (Autocar 2022).

The same issue recurs in self-service checkouts, digital information kiosks and many IoT devices. They promise efficiency but often merely transfer cognitive work to the user, breaking the rhythm of natural action. Well-designed technology does not intrude upon consciousness, it situates itself at its periphery, like the indicator switch in a car – one needs not think of it, yet its meaning is unambiguous.

To create genuinely human-centered technological environments, it is essential to address a fundamental question: how can technology be present and supportive without becoming intrusive? Confronting this question is critical if we are to realize the promise of technology that truly serves human needs, rather than dominating them.

One possible answer lies in the novel concept of pass-through (Case 2025). It means technology that operates so seamlessly as an extension of our body and intention that it disappears through use, not literally but experientially. Case (2025) describes this with examples that are strikingly physical. Once a game controller has been mastered, the fingers find the buttons without visual guidance; once cycling is learned, the body and bicycle move as one. In both cases, the interface becomes an extension of the self. The technology does not demand attention; it releases it for what matters. In the car interface, when the hand finds the lever, the ear senses the click, and the gaze remains on the road – that is pass-through in practice.

Internet of Things (IoT), however, operates unfortunately with an opposite logic in everyday life. Smart and ubiquitous devices constantly demand our gaze and gestures. From the pass-through point of view they are not so smart: they do not support action – they require it. Pass-through thus establishes an ethical boundary: technology should adapt to the human being, not the other way around. It is a moral, not merely an aesthetic, principle.

The ethics of the thin interface and pass-through is fundamentally about cognitive sustainability

The objective of pass-through is related to the idea of thin interfaces, where technology is literally almost invisible or at least operates in the background, prioritizing action. It represents deliberate unobtrusiveness by presenting itself only when necessary. The two modes of thought distinguished by Kahneman – System 1 (fast and automatic) and System 2 (slow and deliberate) – provide its psychological foundation: a good interface supports automaticity. It preserves conscious attention for the truly essential (Kahneman 2011).

Designing a thin interface does not simply mean visual minimalism. It entails structuring information hierarchically, eliminating the unnecessary, and creating interaction that feels natural. Mark Weiser and John Brown formulated already in the 1990s the idea of calm technology: the less you notice it, the better it works (Weiser & Brown 1996). Case (2015, 2025) has brought the idea to the era of ubiquitous technology.

Nicholas Carr (2010) has warned that continuous interruption reshapes our cognition, rendering thought superficial. Immersed in technological noise, we lose not only concentration but a measure of inner calm. The promise of ethics, human-centeredness and resilience embedded in Industry 5.0 cannot be realized without cognitive sustainability – without technologies that sustain attention rather than scatter it.

What does this mean in practice?

Calm technology promotes seamless, unobtrusive interfaces that support effortless interactions. As Papangiannis (2023) states, it is invisible, intuitive, non-disruptive, and accessible only when needed.

Essential to these principles is minimizing unnecessary notifications so that technology communicates only when it’s genuinely important. Rather than interrupting users, technology should use subtle peripheral cues that match natural human perception, allowing people to stay focused on their primary tasks (Case 2015).

Another cornerstone of calm technology is graceful degradation, which means that systems are designed to fail softly and predictably, maintaining core functionality even when components encounter issues. This approach not only enhances reliability but also fosters a sense of trust between humans and their technological tools. (Weiser & Brown 1996.)

Respect for social norms is also a foundational aspect. Technology must operate in harmony with human rhythms, routines, and etiquette, adapting to the context rather than disrupting it. Alongside this, the practice of technological sufficiency guides designers to provide only what is necessary to solve a problem, avoiding the excess that can lead to distraction or cognitive overload. The guiding ideal is that the minimum necessary is enough. (Case 2015.)

Success of industry 5.0’s visions depend on intentional design choices in technology—such as interfaces and algorithms—that truly meet human needs. Calm technology guides this process by prioritizing minimal distractions, measuring success by how seamlessly users can act without unnecessary demands on their attention. As Weiser and Brown (1996) predicted, the scarce resource of the twenty-first century will not be technology; it will be attention. Effective design focuses on preserving that attention for what matters most.

References

Autocar. 2022. Volkswagen to return physical buttons to steering wheels after customer backlash. Cited 31 Oct 2025. Available at https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/industry-news/volkswagen-return-physical-buttons-steering-wheels-after-customer-backlash

Carr, N. 2010. The Shallows: How the Internet Is Changing the Way We Think, Read and Remember. London: Atlantic Books.

Case, A. 2015. Calm Technology: Principles and Patterns for Non-Intrusive Design. O’Reilly Media.

Case, A. 2025. The Ambient Revolution: Why Calm Technology Matters More in the Age of AI. IDEO Edges Blog. Cited 31 Oct 2025. Available at https://edges.ideo.com/posts/the-ambient-revolution-why-calm-technology-matters-more-in-the-age-of-ai

Heikkilä, H. 2023. Towards Unifying Human Design Principles for the IoT-era. LAB RDI Journal. Cited 31 Oct 2025. Available at https://www.labopen.fi/lab-rdi-journal/towards-unifying-human-design-principles-for-the-iot-era/

Kahneman, D. 2011. Thinking, Fast and Slow. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Papangiannis, H. 2023. Calm technology and the future of augmented reality. World Economy Forum. Cited 30 Oct 2025. Available at https://www.weforum.org/stories/2023/08/calm-technology-future-of-augmented-reality/

Weiser, M. & Brown, J. S. 1996. The Coming Age of Calm Technology. Cited 31 Oct 2025. Available at https://calmtech.com/papers/coming-age-calm-technology

Author

Harri Heikkilä is a principal lecturer of visual communication and UX/UI at the LAB University of Applied Sciences School of Design and Fine Arts, and his life mission is to save the world one interface at a time.

Illustration: https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1575621 (CC0), modified by Harri Heikkilä