A video of Alex Soojung-Kim Pang‘s talk earlier this year at the LIFT 2011 has been posted. Pang talks about his concept of “contemplative computing,” a subject he’s writing a book on. You can also read the text of Pang’s talk here (PDF).

Pang’s work is hinged on an idea from psychology called flow. Contemplative computing is the use of technology to improve concentration and flow in a world where technology often interrupts concentration and inhibits flow. Pang considers contemplative computing as a process – something you do, not something you buy.

If you want to know more, you can wait for Pang’s book, read his blog or read a draft paper (PDF) on the subject.

Services Angle

Pang’s work seems in part to be a response to Nicholas Carr’s work on how the Internet and technology affect our attention spans (and Pang references this work explicitly). This cuts across all layers of the stack as the web continues to work its way into every element of our work, from network hardware that has a web interface to CRM systems integrated with the social web. We need the next generation of Web applications to promote both focus and creative mind wandering.

Image by Hans-Peter