Cover Feature Physiological Computing

Brain−computer interfaces (BCIs) hold great promise for improving information delivery and preserving user attention, but this promise has not yet translated to practical use. A prototype BCI that optimizes email notifications in noisy, complex environments, CARSON combines multiple measures from the brain to predict both cognitive workload and message relevancy to determine the optimum time to interrupt the user. P eople consume information at many different times and in many different ways. In 1971, political scientist and economist Herbert Simon pointed out that " a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it. " 1 Since Simon's time, demands on our attention have greatly increased. At work or home or on the go, we use multiple devices to read news articles, shop online, stay updated with our social networks , sift through instant messages and emails, stream videos, and track our activities. Emerging augmented-reality technologies such as smart glasses and car head-up displays move information from peripheral to immediately noticeable locations. As people engage with more and more data, attention has become a precious resource. The consequences of misappropriating attention are well documented. Consuming too much or the wrong information, or consuming information at the wrong moment, can not only decrease working performance but also increase stress and anxiety. For example, an analysis of 10,000 programming sessions found that the average programmer takes 10−15 minutes to resume editing code after a single interruption. 2 While the advent of novel information delivery services and new types of devices has expanded our capacity to access information, our capacity to perceive and understand information has not changed. This tension between greater information availability and biological constraints on attention leaves user interface researchers at a crossroads: How can we prevent increasing amounts of information from overwhelming users?