In our studio in the west port area of Amsterdam, we are building a new kind of business: a slowtech business. In this place we work with the brightest minds to research, design and develop new ways to use technology with a single purpose: slowing down the world. In the past years many designers and technologists have applauded Zuckerberg's adagium: 'Move fast and break things.' Today we know what happens when the sole purpose is to get people's attention. This creates a more divisive and less connected world. We believe that the same technology that big tech uses to divide us, can be used to bring us together. With the Chairwave we've shown in 2019 how you can use design and tech to make more encounters happen in the physical world. Chairwave is an interactive row of chairs that only opens seats next to others. The playful interaction, combined with the light design, creates a reason to converse with others (this effect is also called triangulation). We call this Slowtech: Using tech to slow down the world around us. 'To understand is to be free,' stated Spinoza in 17th century Amsterdam. But it seems that new technologies are taking away our time to truly understand, that's why we need to slow things down. Only then we can be free.
— Justus Bruns