Detecting interruption events using EEG

Contemporary computing devices subject their users to continuous interruptions that can seriously harm productivity and well-being. Understanding how people react to notifications can provide valuable information in managing undesirable interruptions. We test whether a wearable EEG system can detect interruption decision events. Participants in a lab experiment (n=15) received notifications while carrying out a primary task, at the same time their brain activity was recorded with a wearable EEG system. We show that specific EEG features can distinguish between notifications that interrupt the user's activity and notifications that the user can disregard. Our results demonstrate that wearable EEG can serve as a basis for managing interruptions.