Adorable Screens

We spend most of our waking hours staring at screens. They can be either computer screens, for those with a desk job, or smartphones, for ... everyone. While the contents inside the screen became much more likeable and nice-to-look-at, mostly thanks to Steve Jobs, RIP, the screens themselves haven't changed since their inception. They are still ugly rectangles, usually in horrible colors.

I suggest a novel product design project, wherein the shape, color and whole aesthetic of the screen itself be rethought. While I understand that the rectangular shape is mostly due to hardware and digital-screen configuration, I'm pretty sure that today's technology can produce other shapes.

Some examples of other possibilities, as opposed to the black rectangle I'm staring at as I'm writing these words:

-        An oval screen, with some wiggles on the top for hair, and small indentations on the side for ears, to mimic a cute face. This way, I'll maybe interact with my screen as with another person, and not as a device. It can add some illusion of sociability to the isolated screen-based life that some people have.

-        A changing-shape screen, mimicking waves or leaves in the breeze. While this seems as though it will distract the user, you'll be amazed at the habituation we experience to continuous stimuli. Adding some auditory context of ruffled leaves, and I bet anxiety levels when Windows prompts yet another error message will come drastically down.

-        A changing-color screen, where I don't mean the content of what's displaying IN the screen, but the surrounding platform, which most computer screens still have. Think how much nicer it will be that the color will either match your mood, or preferably will steer your mood to the desired one, e.g. light blue for calmer interaction, or red for more productive times.

There are probably dozens more options like these, where designers can go wild and keep in mind that the goal is to make screen-lookers happier.