(In/) Visible Technology

 One of the greatest signs of the maturing of technology is its invisibility. When something becomes the new normal, we no longer have to mention it, notice it or even call it by name. Nobody calls Uber or Starling Bank an eBusiness any more. Netflix viewers aren’t ‘online viewers’. You no longer have to specify that your mobile phone is ‘smart’. In fact, you have to clarify if you’re using a ‘feature’ phone, a quaint anachronism for a non-smart phone. When Nicholas Carr polemically stated that “IT Doesn’t Matter” - he was taking a provocative view of the fact that IT had become commonplace rather than a differentiator. 

There are of course technologies that thrive on visibility. Mobile phones, televisions, wearable tech, and the latest clever technology in your electric vehicle. The reasons for the visibility of technology are obvious - sometimes it’s a selling point, or it's a fashion accessory, or it's display-aesthetics. Sometimes it’s value is in the visibility. An entire set of ‘front end’ technologies are designed to be visible. Your Fitbit or Applewatch, Alexa smart speaker, or your Hive thermostat or Ring doorbell. They are sometimes symbols of your progressiveness and are also used in highly explicit ways. For all these reasons they need to be visible.

Other technologies are naturally invisible. Has anybody actually seen Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Microsoft Azure? Or for that matter an RDBMS? A raft of technologies that are quite ubiquitous in making the digital world work on a daily basis just do their work quietly behind the scenes. Some of these have fundamentally changed the mechanics and the economics of the digital world. These include containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), APIs (Apigee, Mulesoft), distributed and non-relational databases (Hadoop, Mongo), and many others. Makers of these technologies have to work harder to be visible for buyers and users. None more famous than Intel who coined one of the most successful and effective technology marketing campaigns of all time with Intel inside. 

There is an entirely new generation of invisible technologies around the corner. A search for IOT and sensors will immediately throw up numbers in the billions for sensors which are going to be deployed worldwide over the next few years. Chances are you will be surrounded by them but you will not notice 99% of them. They say a new car today has 200 computers onboard. Of course, you see none of them. Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Neural Networks are set to reshape the technology landscape and our jobs, businesses, and societies. Completely invisible. When AI works well, you might not even notice that it’s technology at work. 

When technology becomes a part of the operating infrastructure, it is impacted by the referee effect. By which I mean that you notice it when it’s not doing its job. When it works well, you hardly think about it. Like a train station, an airport, or the government. When technology goes into everything, it needs to become fundamentally reliable, and dare I say, boring. Just doing its job. No fuss and no big deal. 

Another clear sign of invisible tech is in simplicity. When complex things are well designed and work simply, you can be sure that there’s a lot of invisible tech at work. When you press the start button of your car, when you switch your TV on or when you set up your new iPad by simply bringing it into proximity of your iPhone. These simple activities which achieve miraculously complex outcomes are all the result of great technology working invisibly.

We discovered both sides of this when we recently did a study of using technology to look after elderly people in their homes. It turns out that for some people, who are living perfectly healthy lives, the technology can often be an unwelcome sign of aging. An intrusion, and a source of worry or distraction. For these people, the technology needs to be invisible. An insurance policy that exists somewhere, out of sight, until needed. For other users who are facing a loss of confidence brought about by declines in eyesight, memory or physical capability, the technology can actually be a source of comfort and a reminder that one is being looked after. Rather than the invisible insurance, technology for these users is like a carer - attentive and responsive to their needs. 

As we learn to shape and design technology more and more around human needs, we therefore have the choice of making it visible or invisible. This is in some ways a great responsibility for designers and engineers, especially as more technology enters homes and many other aspects of our lives. After all the value of the technology may well depend on its ability to engage with the user. It is also quite possible that individual components of the system might need to be visible or invisible. Or that in future the technology might need to know when to become visible. Could emergency information become more visible in a car after an accident? 

There is a clear trend towards decluttering in many parts of our societies. We are rediscovering minimalism. The role of technology in a world that is more ecologically sustainable, less materially extractive and with much less ‘stuff’ is ever greater. As with most things though many technologies will start being visible and soon become part of the environment and we won’t even call it technology. It will not be invisible as such, but just hiding in plain sight.

(Special thanks to my colleague Rocky Fong for the research and insight on home care)