Google Has A Solution For Notification Anxiety?
Google may have a way to eliminate smartphone-induced notification anxiety altogether.
This article is more than 2 years old
Are you one of those types of people who jump out of their skin each time your smartphone pings, rings, or dings notifying you of an incoming message? Smartphone and Smart device users know it can be a constant state of stress with various types of notification sounds associated with all of their different downloaded apps. This is exactly why Google has come up with a new notification system that is designed to reduce or eliminate all of your notification anxiety associated with just that.
Google detailed that Americans, on average, check their Smartphones once every 4 minutes or three hundred and forty-four times a day. On top of that, 70% of Americans check their phone within 5 minutes of receiving an incoming notification. A total of 53% of Americans state they cannot go more than twenty-four hours without their cell phone. A whopping 74% of Americans feel uneasy without their phones in their possession. Those stats alone could be enough to induce a panicked state of severe PTSD for anyone suffering from a state of notification anxiety!
According to CNET, Google is now aiming to reduce or completely eliminate your notification anxiety by using ambient notifications in place of the typical chimes, dings, pings, and bell sounds. Google has created 6 smart home devices that are meant to mimic everyday sounds and are calling the experiments behind the use of these devices Little Signals. The concept of Google’s Little Signals experiments is to use a more soft and calming way to notify and reduce most, if not all, notification anxiety with the use of puffs of air, physical taps, moving shadows, or objects in your everyday life.
So instead of an alarm clock sound to be used as a reminder for one to take a prescription, the concept behind the Little Signals experiments is to use a device with an arm that would clink against a glass bottle of medicine which would then serve as the daily reminder. Google has gone further with these experimental concepts with their attempts to remove notification anxiety with the sounds of a kettle whistling or the ticking arms of a clock.
Google refers to this new experimental concept as ambient computing. The theory is to engage Smartphone and Smart home device users that potentially suffer from notification anxiety by using their senses in a more nuanced and subtle way. Moreover, Google’s website also vaguely alludes to other experiments regarding its showcased projects that are not tied directly to the Little Signals experiments. These experiments include a manga character creator, and an MRI of the Earth showing all the real damage that has been done to our planet. The showcase project information also provides some basic details regarding a 3D deep-dive simulation of the Timbuktu manuscripts.
At the moment, it is unclear when Google intends to fully roll out its Little Signals initiative. However, if and when they do release it Little Signals could truly serve as a welcome respite for all those who suffer from notification anxiety. In the meantime, though, users can still opt to silence all of their notifications on their personal devices.
