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Introduction
Touch is an essential non-verbal communication since it plays a vital role in expressing emotions and communications. Human touch through Information Communication Technology (ICT) is often mediated by current communication systems such as mobile phones and videoconferencing tools due to technology evolution. They do not communicate through the sense of touch, hence the growing interest in using haptics agents or robots. Experts are finding new ways to create generated touch as a way of social communication. Haptics is the developing stage that focuses on the design, evaluation, and analysis of a device that can process, capture, and display emotions through the sense of touch (Lin et al., 2012). The touch-enabled robots idea came from the ICT-generated touch, which will help healthcare, schools, and telepresence applications (Levy & Murnane, 2013). This research paper aims to present an overview of haptic robots, the importance of haptic contact for humans, potential uses of the touch robots and their benefits, and ethical and current technological applications.
Importance of Haptic Contacts for Humans
Haptic, which was derived from the Greek word meaning touch, was introduced by researchers in the twentieth century. The investigators used touch agents in psychological experiments to refer to the touch of an object by humans (Lin et al., 2012). It has brought many disciplines together, such as engineering, psychology, biometrics, computer science, and neurophysiology, to study social touch and human-computer interaction. This study has helped visually impaired people communicate, entertainment and gaming, touchscreen interaction, and teleoperation. Humans can express some of their emotions through touch only. When people are in different locations, they convey those feelings through mediated virtual touch.
According to a scientist in psychology, haptic robots can effectively express the same emotions as humans through mediated touch (Walther & DAddario, 2001). The researchers use haptic technology to display emotions, detect emotions, and give feedback that audio-visual devices cannot do. Most communication devices only produce visual and audio responses. The haptic robots bring the sense of touch to emotional communication. This will help in building trust, communicating emotions, and attaining behavioral changes. Mediated contact uses haptic devices to transfer communication sensations from one user to another (Mirvis et al., 1991). The agents transfer communication from the machine to the user.
The importance of haptic robots and mediated affective touch is that they can promote remote communication for partners or families in different locations. Together with visual and audio aid, the haptic robots can transfer effective emotions to partners who can boost long-distance relationships. The mediated affective touch can help the computer systems to deliver adequate information to the users. This research is still in the developing stage, which is at the crossroad between psychology and ICT (Yee et al., 2007). This effective communication will help users solve some ICT challenges and improve the mood of research.
Haptic Touch can be employed in psychotherapy where the doctor can detect the patients emotions through the robot. During this period of COVID-19, the psychotherapist can conduct remote sessions with their patients and get to read their feelings through the mediated affective touch (Lin et al., 2012). The doctors and nurses can use haptic robots to understand patients in a comma or patients who cannot express their emotions. Advanced mediated effective communication can help the health specialist conduct alternative therapies such as acupressure and vibroacoustic therapy (Loughnan et al., 2011). This can help most health practicians to provide remote services to their patients.
Potential Uses of Haptic Robots in Therapeutic Touch
Physiological
A gentle touch or mediated affective touch has been linked to lowering blood pressure and heart rate. Studies have also found that touch can affect the discharge of stress hormones. When partners touch each other, it increases brain activity response to the slight electric shock from the contact. It can reduce coldness through a warm hug or gentle touch on the back. The mediated communication influences the value of a shared experience and also increases the level of intimacy felt between two individuals.
Stimulation of an individuals hand using the mediated touch can increase the quality of a shared experience remotely, such as a funny movie or a happy memory. It can also increase the sympathy for the partners. According to a storytelling example, a user showed a high level of connection when a squeeze in the arm accompanied the story (Loughnan et al, 2011). Individuals hugging a haptic robot while talking to their partners also increases the attraction and feelings, according to (Mandal & Fatik., 2014). The haptic robot, in this case, can help reduce blood pressure, heart rate, anger, stress, and cold.
Behavioral
Mediated affective touch can also transfer happiness and anger to the users. Haptic agents can communicate eliciting emotions such as influencing individuals attitudes towards places, services, or other people. They create bonds and social behaviors. For example, by touching a salesperson, one can positively or negatively affect their product (McLaughlin et al., 2011). A haptic agent can also detect the same from the agent and transfer the emotions to the other person. Mediated affective touch can increase the flow of information, helping an individual to evaluate their communication partners. A mediated affective touch will transfer the same behavior or order of magnitude from one user to another.
Affective
There is a recent development in telepresence robots where users can physically interact in remote environments. The robots provide users with a physical illusion of the other users while still in their outlying areas. The telepresence robots can provide embodied teleconferencing, doctors checking on their patients, teaching children remotely, and monitoring the elderly in remote care centers. The telepresence reciprocates an individuals behavior and provides the recipient with multisensory feedback in real-time (Peräkylä & Sorjonen, 2012). The sense of touch in these robots has not been described in detail. Mediated contact is effective on two individuals close to each other. The mediated communication brings elements of mutual understanding and trust. The mediated touch mainly depends on the relationship between the receiver and the sender. According to (Walther & DAddario, 2001), mediated contact can be uncomfortable between strangers who do not share a mutual bond. Currently, the touch signals are mediated through the visual and audio aid in most technological systems.
The current researchers are still working on a medium that can transfer touch from a virtual entity to the users. The researcher will have to develop a tool that can share the users touch signals to the system and from the device to the other user (Van et al., 2015). The haptic agents will also have to understand the touch signals and interpret them. There has been a recent development in tactile jackets and dance vests for deaf young individuals. The tactile jacket increases emotions while watching movies. The dance jacket interpreted music signals as vibration patterns (Yee et al., 2007). Music has an emotional part that was transferred to the individuals through the vibration patterns.
One of the benefits that mediated touch has brought is transferring emotions and expression from one individual to another. Even though some mediated touch applications are still in the development stage, they will boost remote relationships, and promote remote jobs in the healthcare industry, schools, and even other workplaces (Vrij et al., 2019). Some ethical issues will emerge, such as lack of trust towards the haptic agents, security of private information, and vulnerability of the organizations information and data. Currently, most communication devices steal individual information for advertisement purposes; hence most companies will start using haptic robots to harvest personal information to promote their products. Couples will also feel like they are being watched or not entirely safe to talk about sensitive information on the channels (Walther & DAddario, 2001). Companies will also feel their data is not secure. Haptic robot companies will have to address the security issues before they launch their products.
Conclusion
In summary, haptic agents will bring many changes to the current technology. It will enable people to feel their partners emotions, and it will allow organizations to have remote sessions with their workers and their customers. The mediated affective touch will make work easier since people can communicate remotely and feel each others emotions even when they are miles apart. In this COVID-19 stage, the haptic agents can help health workers attend to their patients without being directly involved. It will also promote long-distance relationships and bring together family members who live in different locations. The haptic robot companies need to address individual information sharing to avoid problems in the future.
References
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Mandal, B., & Fatik, B. (2014). Nonverbal communication in humans. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 24(4), 417-421.
McLaughlin, M., Sukhatme, G., and Hespanha, J. (2001). Touch in virtual environments: Haptics and the Design of Interactive Systems. Pearson Education.
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Yee, N. et al. (2007). The unbearable likeness of being digital. The persistence of nonverbal social norms in online virtual environments. Cyberpsychology and Behavior, 10(5), 115-121.
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