SwarmFidget: Exploring Programmable Actuated Fidgeting with Swarm Robots

We introduce the concept of programmable actuated fidgeting, a type of fidgeting that involves devices integrated with actuators, sensors, and computing to enable a customizable interactive fidgeting experience. In particular, we explore the potential of a swarm of tabletop robots as an instance of programmable actuated fidgeting as robots are becoming increasingly available. Through ideation sessions among researchers and feedback from the participants, we formulate the design space for SwarmFidget, where swarm robots are used to facilitate programmable actuated fidgeting. To gather user impressions, we conducted an exploratory study where we introduced the concept of SwarmFidget to twelve participants and had them experience and provide feedback on six example fidgeting interactions. Our study demonstrates the potential of SwarmFidget for facilitating fidgeting interaction and provides insights and guidelines for designing effective and engaging fidgeting interactions with swarm robots. We believe our work can inspire future research in the area of programmable actuated fidgeting and open up new opportunities for designing novel swarm robot-based fidgeting systems.