Not Just Collect Data

TECHNOLOGY | TECHNOPHORIA

Technology That Prods You to Take Action, Not Just Collect Data

Natasha Dow Schüll wearing a Muse, a headband that tracks mood.CreditKayana Szymczak for The New York Times

By NATASHA SINGERAPRIL 18, 2015

The bookshelves in Natasha Dow Schüll’s office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are punctuated here and there with kitchen timers: a windup orange plastic device, an egg-shaped stainless steel mechanical timer, a digital hourglass with falling pixels in lieu of sand.

At one time, Ms. Schüll, an associate professor atM.I.T.’s program in science, technology and society, employed these relics to track and manage her time while she was writing her doctoral dissertation./.../