A while ago on Spark, I talked to Rohan Gunatillake, about meditation and digital culture. In our interview, he talked about the need to design digital technology that supports attention and focus, rather than distraction. That had me thinking: what would that actually look like?

Turns out researcher Roel Vertegaal has been working on just such an issue. He's an associate professor in Human-Computer Interaction at Queen's University. He coined the term "attentive user interface" to describe this sort of design for attention and focus.

You can hear the full, uncut interview below, or download the MP3. [runs 17:19]

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If you're interested in this interview, you might also enjoy Chris Harrison on On-Body Interfaces.