The modern world is smart and, by extension, our devices too share a silent dialogue – a code-anodyne that governs how we interact digitally. Consider your smartphone getting online, your smart fitness wristband or smart scale sharing information with a smartphone or tablet, or smart thermostat auto-setting the environment. Often, such interactions might appear to be trite, containing perceptions, interpretations and subsequent reactions. It enables us to purposely influence how devices transmit and receive signals which is important for designing devices. Whether it is in the design of the user-interaction or assembling a visually integrated worksheet of daily routines, it is in these observations that the genius of a smart home system is to be found – the sophisticated cues that allow for interaction to occur based on previously determined habits.
Thus, when we journey through this laid-back communication aspect, we shall find out on the aspect of storytelling, active listening, and gestures. Engaging with our devices isn’t just about using them, but interacting with social actors who are implicitly communicating with us. So the next time your smartwatch tells you how many steps you’ve taken or your voice assistant replies to your command – Yes Sir, Yes Madam, do remember – they are all a part of this complex chain of Data interconnectivity.

 Perception shapes communication. It is about perception when your smartphone communicates by connecting to a Wi-Fi network or your smartwatch transfers the data related to your health. Devices are capable of perceiving signal and processing signals and make some response to it. For instance when a mobile phone interface receives a signal of a WI-FI network it senses the presence of the network and begins to communicate with it. Having learned the modes of perception as explained in the course it is possible to purposefully influence such. Here, we improve the perception of our devices making the communication as efficient as possible despite the disability, for instance, through interfaces. 
 Consider this: Think of a smart home system that can observe all your daily activities and adapt the lighting, temperature and security. It foreshadows your needs; making the experience very smooth. In a way, this form of perception can be altered by the users where instructions are given, preferences set, and device limitations acknowledged. It is this indefinable – the nuance in the the heating system telling your smart thermostat when to turn on based on its perceived habits. 
 

 Stories engage and persuade. Our devices speak in terms of data but the narrative gives an onion skin peeling effect. Think of your fitness tracker: It gathers data on the rate at which the heart is pounding, the number of steps that one has taken, and the duration of sleep. Now, try to imagine it tells a story, more specifically, a story about your health. “Yesterday, you climbed 10 flights of stairs— great work!” This makes something as simple as raw data very easy to comprehend and even make people feel like doing it more. In turn, Charles Duhigg once noted that it is easier for us to remember severities rather than single items of information. Thus, acquiring the skills to tell effective stories makes us supercommunicators. 
 Consider this: If your smart fridge to communicates low milk levels it will be; ‘Hey there it is time to refill milk. ’ But if the smart fridge could tell a story it will be; “Did you read that interesting book ‘Romeo and Juliet’? Well, here you are, ‘low on ink,’ fooling around with an adjectives. ” Thus, the secret language here is the mixture of data and story. The target audience can be given interesting histories about their devices, a simple story that would make the audience listen. 
 

Active listening builds connections. Without human input, the devices act likewise and listen and those respond. Think of how you use one of your smart assistants: Siri, Alexa or Google Assistant et cetera. When activated using ‘Hey, Siri’ or a double-tap on the home button, the personal assistant gestures are eager to help. Charles Duhigg’s insights on active listening apply here:Charles Duhigg’s insights on active listening apply here:
Maintain Eye Contact (Digital Equivalent): Your smartphone’s front and back camera is like a ‘seeing eye. ’ This may sound mysterious, bear with us; next time you make a selfie, or engage in a video conference, think of your smartphone ‘looking’ at you. It physically confirms that the other party is present, receptive and tuning in to whatever is being said. Likewise, the wake word brings your smart speaker to be listening to your command and interact with you. It just patiently sits their waiting for the next command it receives a friend who leans close to hear your story.
Ask Open-Ended Questions (Device Prompts): Communication encompasses the provision of questions that foster interaction among the involved parties. Your GPS system exemplifies this one as well: It does not command “Insert destination” but asks as a question like “Do you want to go somewhere?” Unlike pre-programmed types it works as per your requirements. Ideally, users can also improve understanding by guiding devices in understanding cues that would make them much more active in what they listen to.
Summarize (Smartwatch Insights): Your smartwatch translates health trends into the next action on your wrist. ‘‘You have been running all day today — great job!’’ says it all in hours into data. Likewise, whenever my phone makes a shortcut of a numerous meeting thread, it assists in understanding of the content. From the above developments, it can be deduced that active listening is not simply about receiving information but also how the information is processed and the resultant reaction.

Theories are like language, and their intention, nature, and relationship with body language can be seen through the above-mentioned aspects of body language.Nonverbal cues matter. They are nonverbal like a nod and budge, through the actions my devices talk without using words. Consider these examples:
Screen Brightness (Adaptive Nonverbal Communication): Your smartphone automatically minimizes battery usage on apps in low light conditions as you see or use a flashlight. Indeed, it symbolizes interaction because it “feels” the surroundings or the world and answers—a nonverbal exchange. Likewise, its smart home system is able to identify the movement and change the lighting and temperature as needed. Such little changes are secret language that makes the user experience a better one. 
Gesture-Based Interactions (Digital Gestures): Swiping, pinching, and poking with fingers onto screens are examples of digital gestures. The idea of gesturing kinetically when you unlock your phone with a swipe or zoom in on a map with a pinch, all of this is nonverbal. These native movements are closest to perceiving the interface and the way the user interacts with it. Think about one that has details such as pinching to expand plant information – an almost lifelike touch and feel.

 Influence with psychology. The concept of persuasion is a strong weapon especially when you have to make people buy a product, change their habits, or perform something. People also described elements that encourage particular behaviours in devices using persuasion. Here’s how: 
 Social Proof: Have you ever realized that it is only displayed what people are doing? Well, that is what is commonly referred to as social proof. This is the feeling you get when your fitness app shows a list of friends’ steps that have completed more than the number of steps you have done. It uses the psychology of masses, the need to be like everybody else to get to its users. Therefore, as designers, we can create interfaces that bring out positive attributes in human beings which creates a feeling of inclusiveness. 
 Scarcity: Exclusivity, temporal availability, quote ‘just for now’, ‘only today’ - all these business tactics are built on the concept of scarcity. ‘Only 3 copies left!’ when your e-reader speaks, it convinces. Parity’s signal can be backed by devices with the creation of scarce resources. Consider your gardening app informing you of the availability of some species of plants you have never seen before and probably have never even thought of buying. The secret language also continues the principle of deliberate creation of the perception of scarcity, even in such environments as the net. 
 Reciprocity: Soon enough we learn that the world is binary: there is reciprocation and then there is administration. If your favorite application has free, you will tend to subscribe to it after sometime when you exhaust the offer. From a devices’ perspective, it can also begin reciprocity by giving value first. Take an example of an application that provides free guided meditation session, such a gesture creates goodwill. Being users, we get used to devices offering before demanding and, therefore, it is a commendable idea to donate before demanding from the users in return. 

 The next time you and your gadgets share information, just remember, you are engaging in a coded conversation. By understanding and appreciating this silent conversation, we become super communicators in our tech-driven world:By understanding and appreciating this silent conversation, we become super communicators in our tech-driven world: 
 Perception, Storytelling, and Active Listening: Indeed, these are the pillars of interaction. Perception defines how a device processes it or what it means, narrative enriches it and gives it angle and active listening provides it a relationship. Think of a future in which your smart home system incorporates an understanding of your mood and switches on/off the light and tells energy-saving stories. These are the semantic features of design that the secret language actually consists of. 
 Bridging Technology and Human Experience: What we hold in our hands are more than appliances; they are loyal friends. Whether it is your couch congratulating you on your weight loss or your house answering your voice, they converse silently. Unfortunately, as creators we have a lock on this language. Let us apply this to our devices, they are no more simply a bunch of circuits. Thus, with the help of technology, by deciphering their words spoken in a whisper, we explain the world to ourselves.