London – Paus is a new platform from designer Louise Nyborg that encourages people to take a moment to slow down.
Inspired by the global Slow Movement, Paus invites its users to do exactly that, pause and reflect for a little while each day.
The aim of Paus is to facilitate a moment of calm through a desktop or mobile device. Fittingly, the site is a refuge from the frenetic world of online banner ads and flash players, featuring simple animations in soft pastel colours.
Through interactive geometric puzzles, games, breathing and listening exercises, Paus helps users to find time in the day to go slow and focus on being in the moment. Its Daily Slow activities, for example, give users a a different technique each day to help them find the balance between fast and slow.
'Mindfulness is becoming more mainstream which is a sign that people want to slow down,' Nyborg tells LS:N Global. 'I created Paus as way to help explain the Slow Movement to a wider audience and encourage people to find out more about balancing fast with slow.'
The Big Picture: Physically and mentally exhausted by the online world, consumers are looking to technology to help them switch off. Read our macrotrend The New Sublimity for more.