Our Purpose: Attunement

Technology and Mental Health

In the 2000s, the attitude around technology was optimistic, generally seen as force that would enable people to live happier more stress free lives. Today, the rise of the tech giants, the mass adoption of smartphones and the escalation of tech's battle for attention, has come with an unfortunate side effect: the loss of our precious attention. Children are growing up spending most of their waking hours online, and forgetting the ability to connect directly with other people. Mental health is in decline, and suicide rates are up. This is, in our opinion, unacceptable.

Technology: Good but Broken

We believe that these effects are not the result of technology in general. Each individual has the world's knowledge in their pocket and can connect to anyone they know instantly. This is not something we should get rid of. Rather we think it is the perverse incentives that technology companies have to maximize the time users spend on their applications. The development of technology is intrinsically good, but we must control for its side effects.

What is Attunement

Attunement is a term that is key in the healing of trauma, and restoring happiness in human beings after they have experienced adverse experiences. It refers to the ability of humans to synchronize with one another, be it in a tango dance, a conversation, a game, or an event. Attunement is one of the key drivers of happiness in humans, and healing from pain. We hope to foster it in our users.

What we are Building

Attunement Studios is a mobile design studio and incubator that creates in person experiences with digital applications. We are working to deliver a suite of applications that work in tandem with experiences and events, that bring people closer together, and closer to reality. We want our work to be a benefit to everyone's mental health, rather than a distraction from it.

Our Principles

Below are some rules we follow in the design and development of our technology:

1. Focus first on the ideal experience desired from the user, then design backwards to the technology.
2. Seek to maximize the benefit from the user, while minimizing the time spent interacting with the screen.
3. Understand all human needs, and seek to ensure none of them are neglected.
4. Be a positive benefit to the entire community we interact with, not just our bottom line or shareholders.
5. Create a world where everyone can enjoy the precious life they have.

Our Desired Effect

We think that the world is a wonderful place and no single individual life is worth squandering. We think that anyone can be happy and attuned within a community that loves and supports each other, and that our screens should be an enhancement to the experience of connection, not a distraction from it. We promise to do our best to make our apps a benefit to humanity.