Positive Computing ─ Technology for Wellbeing and Human Potential

On the eve of Google's IPO in 2004, Larry Page and Sergey Brin vowed not to be evil.Today, a growing number of technologists would go further, trying to ensure that their work activelyimproves people's lives. Technology, so pervasive and ubiquitous, has the capacity to increasestress and suffering; but it also has the less-heralded potential to improve the well-being ofindividuals, society, and the planet. In this book, Rafael Calvo and Dorian Peters investigate whatthey term "positive computing" -- the design and development of technology to supportpsychological well-being and human potential.

Calvo and Peters explain thattechnologists' growing interest in social good is part of a larger public concern about how ourdigital experience affects our emotions and our quality of life -- which itself reflects an emergingfocus on humanistic values in many different disciplines. Synthesizing theory, knowledge, andempirical methodologies from a variety of fields, they offer a rigorous and coherent foundationalframework for positive computing. Sidebars by experts from psychology, neuroscience, human--computerinteraction, and other disciplines supply essential context. Calvo and Peters examine specificwell-being factors, including positive emotions, self-awareness, mindfulness, empathy, andcompassion, and explore how technology can support these factors. Finally, they offer suggestionsfor future research and funding.

SidebarsTimothy N. Bickmore,Jeremy Bailenson, danah boyd, Jane Burns, David R. Caruso, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Felicia Huppert,Mary-Helen Immordino-Yang, Adele Krusche and J. Mark G. Williams, Jane McGonigal, Jonathan Nicholas,Don Norman, Yvonne Rogers

Rafael A. Calvo is Associate Professor of Software Engineering and Director of the Positive Computing Lab at the University of Sydney. Dorian Peters is user experience designer and online strategist for the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Sydney and Creative Leader of the Positive Computing Lab there.