So far, there has only been a few dominant UI paradigms for digital devices. The good old desktop metaphor with windows, icons, mice and pointers made computers usable for the masses. With iOS and Android, smartphone UIs seem to have settled on touch screen input. Now we see a rapid growth of subtle and smart devices that might not have any screens at all.

In a cluttered lab at the University of Washington in Seattle, a small gadget is slowly beaming a photo to a nearby computer. It is devices like this that could make up the much-hyped Internet of Things, a vision of billions of interconnected sensors that will one day give the physical world a digital voice.

Your automobile navigation system is the next device with a special greeting. “Hello. Good morNING. And. Happy birthDAY,” the system says in its usual condescending inflection. Driving to work, your connected ring unexpectedly starts blinking and vibrating without a break. Startled, you slide it off and throw it in your purse. It is set to alert you to incoming Facebook messages. And today, on your birthday, there are hundreds.