Shawn Sullivan and Ted Selker
Need more info? Please contact: stsully [at] mit.edu
The Interruption Manager is a system designed to allow both users and experimenters to easily control the manner in which programs interact. Combining several different insights into dealing with the disruptiveness of interruptions, the Interruption Manager provides many different combinations of interruption presentation and control. In addition, the Interruption Manager bases its actions on what programs are open on the computer, what windows are open and active, and the user's keyboard and mouse usage, making it application independent. To augment the power and accuracy of the Interruption Manager, users can specify application-specific information, increasing the utility of the system. The Interruption Manager has been used so far to mediate interruptions from AOL Instant Messenger when users were in the process of using Open Office Writer, reducing the negative impact of messages popping up uncontrollably during work by regulating when they occur.
