I'm a bit late in noting this, but last week's Fast Company article is indeed available. "Awareness is Everything" looks at what happens as we keep adding sensory awareness to our personal devices.

Imagine a desktop with a camera that knows to shut down the screen and eventually go to sleep when you walk away (but stays awake when you're sitting there reading something or thinking), and will wake up when you sit down in front of it (no mouse-jiggling required).

Or a system with a microphone that listens for the combination of a phone ringing (sudden loud noise) followed by a nearby voice saying "hello" (or similar greeting), and will mute the system automatically. [...]

... the question isn't "can this happen?," it's "will we want it?"

Enjoy.