The Invisible Interface: Increasing the Power of the Environment through Calm Technology

Abstract

Dr. Mark Weiser is the Chief Technologist at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). Weiser has no bachelor’s degree; his PhD is in Computer and Communications Sciences from the University of Michigan (1979). Weiser was assistant and associate professor and associate chair in the Computer Science Department at the University of Maryland from 1979 to 1987, when he joined Xerox PARC as member of the technical staff, then heading the Computer Science Laboratory for seven years. He has started three companies. His over 75 technical publications are on such areas as the psychology of programming, program slicing, operating systems, programming environments, garbage collection, and technological ethics. Weiser’s work since 1988 has been focused on Ubiquitous Computing, a program he initiated that envisions PC’s being replaced with invisible computers embedded in everyday objects. He believes that this will lead to an era of “calm technology”, in which technology, rather than panicking us, helps us focus on what is really important to us. Weiser is also the drummer of the rock band Severe Tire Damage, the first live band on the Internet.