Exploring Extended Mind-Wandering Through an Interactive Haptic Fidget Object

Abstract

Mind-wandering (MW) and fdgeting are both present as pervasive phenomena in everyday life and can positively impact ideation. Importantly, within the MW experience, MW can manifest in bodily behaviors such as physical fdgeting. Here, we use an extended mind framework to consider fdgeting as a case of extended MW, where (part of) a MW episode is mediated by a fdget object. We position extended MW, fdgeting, and cognition as interrelated processes. We present the design of an interactive haptic fdget object that aims to support introspective self-awareness in MW and aid in idea synthesis. We discuss the results of an exploratory user evaluation