Element contents
Affective Touching
Neurobiology and Technological Applications
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 February 2025
Summary
At the end of the twentieth century the discovery of 'slow', affective touch nerves in humans known as C Tactile (CT) afferents, which are entirely separate from the faster pathways for touching objects, had huge social implications. The Swedish neuroscientists responsible formulated an “affective touch hypothesis” or “social touch hypothesis” to consider their purpose. Part I offers a history of the science of social touch, from related discoveries in mammals by physiologists in the 1930s, to the recent rediscoveries of the CT nerves in humans. Part II considers how these findings are being intentionally folded into technologies for interaction. First, as mediated social touch, communicating at a distance through haptics. Second, with the increasing number of social and service robots in health care and domestic settings, the role of affective touch within human-robot interaction design.
- Type
- Element
- Information
- Online ISBN: 9781009484404Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication: 20 February 2025
References
Ackerley, R., Wasling, H. B., Liljencrantz, J., et al. (2014). Human C-tactile Afferents Are Tuned to the Temperature of a Skin-Stroking Caress. The Journal of Neuroscience, 34(8), 2879–2883. https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.2847-13.2014.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Adrian, E. D., & Zotterman, Y. (1926). The Impulses Produced by Sensory Nerve Endings. The Journal of Physiology, 61(4), 465–483. https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.1926.sp002308.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ainsworth, M. D. S. (1979). Attachment as Related to Mother-Infant Interaction. In Rosenblatt, J. S., Hinde, R. A., Beer, C., & Busnel, M.-C. (Eds.), Advances in the Study of Behavior (Vol. 9, pp. 1–51). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-3454(08)60032-7.Google Scholar
Andreasson, R., Alenljung, B., Billing, E., & Lowe, R. (2017). Affective Touch in Human–Robot Interaction: Conveying Emotion to the Nao Robot. International Journal of Social Robotics, 10(4), 473–491. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12369-017-0446-3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arnold, T., & Scheutz, M. (2017). The Tactile Ethics of Soft Robotics: Designing Wisely for Human–Robot Interaction. Soft Robotics, 4(2), 81–87. https://doi.org/10.1089/soro.2017.0032.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Arnold, T., & Scheutz, M. (2018). Observing Robot Touch in Context: How Does Touch and Attitude Affect Perceptions of a Robot’s Social Qualities? Proceedings of the 2018 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, Chicago, IL, USA. https://doi.org/10.1145/3171221.3171263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arthur, C. (2002, Wednesday 30 October). Touching Moment 3,000 Miles Apart Becomes a Virtual Reality. The Independent, 7.Google Scholar
Asada, M. (2014). Towards Artificial Empathy. International Journal of Social Robotics, 7(1), 19–33. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12369-014-0253-z.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Asada, M. (2015a). Development of Artificial Empathy. Neuroscience Research, 90, 41–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neures.2014.12.002.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Asada, M. (2015b). Towards Artificial Empathy: How Can Artificial Empathy Follow the Developmental Pathway of Natural Empathy? International Journal of Social Robotics, 7(1), 19–33. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12369-014-0253-z.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barker, N., & Jewitt, C. (2022). Filtering Touch: An Ethnography of Dirt, Danger, and Industrial Robots. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 51(1), 103–130. https://doi.org/10.1177/08912416211026724.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bastian, H. C. (1869). On the ‘Muscular Sense’, and on the Physiology of Thinking. British Medical Journal, 1(435), 394–396. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.1.435.394.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bemelmans, R., Gelderblom, G. J., Jonker, P., & de Witte, L. (2015). Effectiveness of Robot Paro in Intramural Psychogeriatric Care: A Multicenter Quasi-experimental Study. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 16(11), 946–950. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2015.05.007.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bevan, C., & Fraser, D. S. (2015). Shaking Hands and Cooperation in Tele-present Human-Robot Negotiation. Proceedings of the Tenth Annual ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (pp. 247–254), Portland, Oregon, USA. Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/2696454.2696490.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Block, A. E., Seifi, H., Hilliges, O., Gassert, R., & Kuchenbecker, K. J. (2023). In the Arms of a Robot: Designing Autonomous Hugging Robots with Intra-hug Gestures. Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction, 12(2), 1–49. https://doi.org/10.1145/3526110.Google Scholar
Boddice, R., & Smith, M. (2020). Emotion, Sense, Experience. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108884952.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burgoon, J. K. (1991). Relational Message Interpretations of Touch, Conversational Distance, and Posture. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 15(4), 233–259. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00986924.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Casteñada, C. (2001). Robotic Skin: The Future of Touch? In Ahmed, S., & Stacey, J. (Eds.), Thinking Through the Skin (pp. 223–236). Routledge.Google Scholar
Chang, A. (2002). ComTouch: A Vibrotactile Mobile Communication Device. MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chartrand, T. L., & Bargh, J. A. (1999). The Chameleon Effect: The Perception–Behavior Link and Social Interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76(6), 893–910. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.76.6.893.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chartrand, T. L., & Lakin, J. L. (2013). The Antecedents and Consequences of Human Behavioral Mimicry. Annual Review of Psychology, 64, 285–308. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143754.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chun, B., & Knight, H. (2020). The Robot Makers: An Ethnography of Anthropomorphism at a Robotics Company. ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction, 9(3), 1–36. https://doi.org/10.1145/3377343.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coker, D. A., & Burgoon, J. K. (1987). The Nature of Conversational Involvement and Nonverbal Encoding Patterns. Human Communication Research, 13(4), 463–494. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.1987.tb00115.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Craig, A. D. (2003). Interoception: The Sense of the Physiological Condition of the Body. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 13(4), 500–505. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0959-4388(03)00090-4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cramer, H., Kemper, N., Amin, A., Wielinga, B., & Evers, V. (2009). ‘Give Me a Hug’: The Effects of Touch and Autonomy on People’s Responses to Embodied Social Agents. Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds, 20(2–3), 437–445. https://doi.org/10.1002/cav.317.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crusco, A. H., & Wetzel, C. G. (1984). The Midas Touch: The Effects of Interpersonal Touch on Restaurant Tipping. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 10(4), 512–517. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167284104003.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dumouchel, P., & Damiano, L. (2017). Living with Robots (DeBevoise, M., Trans.). Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellingsen, D. M., Leknes, S., Loseth, G., Wessberg, J., & Olausson, H. (2015). The Neurobiology Shaping Affective Touch: Expectation, Motivation, and Meaning in the Multisensory Context. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, Article 1986. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01986.Google ScholarPubMed
Erlanger, J., & Gasser, H. S. (1930). The Action Potential in Fibers of Slow Conduction in Spinal Roots and Somatic Nerves. American Journal of Physiology, 92(1), 43–82. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajplegacy.1930.92.1.43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fairhurst, M. T., McGlone, F., & Croy, I. (2022). Affective Touch: A Communication Channel for Social Exchange. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 43, 54–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2021.07.007.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feil-Seifer, D., & Mataric, M. (2011). Socially Assistive Robotics. IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine, 18(1), 24–31. https://doi.org/10.1109/mra.2010.940150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Field, T., Hernandez-Reif, M., Diego, M., Schanberg, S., & Kuhn, C. (2005). Cortisol Decreases and Seratonin and Dopamine Increase Following Massage Therapy. International Journal of Neuroscience, 115(10), 1397–1413. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207450590956459.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Field, T. M., Schanberg, S. M., Scafidi, F., et al. (1986). Tactile/Kinesthetic Stimulation Effects on Preterm Neonates. Pediatrics, 77(5), 654–658. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.77.5.654.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fisher, J. D., Rytting, M., & Heslin, R. (1976). Hands Touching Hands: Affective and Evaluative Effects of an Interpersonal Touch. Sociometry, 39(4), 416–421. https://doi.org/10.2307/3033506.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Foerster, O. (1936). The Motor Cortex in Man in the Light of Hughling Jackson’s Doctrines. Brain, 59(2), 135–159. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/59.2.135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foerster, O., & Gagel, O. (1932). Die Vorderseitenstrangdurchschneidung beim Menschen. Julius Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fretwell, E. (2020). Sensory Experiments: Psychophysics, Race, and the Aesthetics of Feeling. Duke University Press. www.dukeupress.edu/sensory-experiments.Google Scholar
George, E. I., Brand, T. C., LaPorta, A., Marescaux, J., & Satava, R. M. (2018). Origins of Robotic Surgery: From Skepticism to Standard of Care. Jsls, 22(4). https://doi.org/10.4293/jsls.2018.00039.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gibson, J. J. (Ed.). (1968). The Senses Considered as Perceptual Systems. George Allan & Unwin.Google Scholar
Haans, A., & Ijsselsteijn, W. (2006). Mediated Social Touch: A Review of Current Research and Future Directions. Virtual Reality, 9(2), 149–159. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10055-005-0014-2.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haans, A., & Ijsselsteijn, W. (2009). The Virtual Midas Touch: Helping Behavior after a Mediated Social Touch. IEEE Transactions on Haptics, 2(3), 136–140. https://doi.org/10.1109/TOH.2009.20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Haggarty, C. J., Malinowski, P., McGlone, F. P., & Walker, S. C. (2020). Autistic Traits Modulate Cortical Responses to Affective but Not Discriminative Touch. European Journal of Neuroscience, 51(8), 1844–1855. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.14637.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hall, J. A., & Knapp, M. L. (2009). Nonverbal Communication in Human Interaction (7th Ed.). Cengage Learning. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110238150.Google Scholar
Hammock, M. L., Chortos, A., Tee, B. C.-K., Tok, J. B.-H., & Bao, Z. (2013). 25th Anniversary Article: The Evolution of Electronic Skin (E-Skin): A Brief History, Design Considerations, and Recent Progress. Advanced Materials, 25(42), 5997–6038. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201302240.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harlow, H. F. (1958). The Nature of Love. American Psychologist, 13(12), 673–685. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0047884.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heslin, R., & Alper, T. (1982). Touch: A Bonding Gesture. In Wiemann, J. M. & Harrison, R. P. (Eds.), Nonverbal Interaction (pp. 47–75). Sage.Google Scholar
Hillis, K. (Ed.). (1999). Digital Sensations: Space, Identity and Embodiment in Virtual Reality. University Of Minnesota Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoffmann, L., & Krämer, N. C. (2021). The Persuasive Power of Robot Touch. Behavioral and Evaluative Consequences of Non-functional Touch from a Robot. PLoS One, 16(5), e0249554. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249554.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Huisman, G. (2012). A touch of affect: Mediated social touch and affect. Proceedings of the 14th ACM International Conference on Multimodal Interaction, Santa Monica, CA. https://doi.org/10.1145/2388676.2388746.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huisman, G. (2017). Social Touch Technology: A Survey of Haptic Technology for Social Touch. IEEE Transactions on Haptics, 10(3), 391–408. https://doi.org/10.1109/TOH.2017.2650221.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Iggo, A. (1960). Cutaneous Mechanoreceptors with Afferent C Fibres. The Journal of Physiology, 152(2), 337–353. https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.1960.sp006491.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Iriuchijima, J., & Zotterman, Y. (1960). The Specificity of Afferent Cutaneous C Fibres in Mammals. Acta Physiologica Scandinavica, 49(2–3), 267–278. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-1716.1960.tb01952.x.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Iwata, H. (2008). History of Haptic Interface. In Grunwald, M. (Ed.), Human Haptic Perception: Basics and Applications (pp. 355–361). Birkhäuser Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7643-7612-3_29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jeannerod, M. (1985). The Brain Machine: The Development of Neurophysiological Thought (Urion, D., Trans.). Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jewitt, C., & Price, S. (2024). Digital Touch. Polity Press. https://books.google.com/books?id=BxYLEQAAQBAJ.Google Scholar
Johansson, R. S., Trulsson, M., Olsson, K. Å., & Westberg, K. G. (1988). Mechanoreceptor Activity from the Human Face and Oral Mucosa. Experimental Brain Research, 72(1), 204–208. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00248518.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jones, S. E., & Yarbrough, A. E. (1985). A Naturalistic Study of the Meanings of Touch. Communication Monographs, 52(1), 19–56. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637758509376094.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jung, M. & Hinds, P. (2018). Robots in the Wild: A Time for More Robust Theories of Human-Robot Interaction. ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction, 7(1), 1–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Katz, D. (1989). The World of Touch (Krueger, L. E., Ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=49Vtnp2k1MEC.Google Scholar
Kim, J., Kim, H., Tay, B. K., et al. (2004). Transatlantic Touch: A Study of Haptic Collaboration over Long Distance. Presence, 13(3), 328–337. https://doi.org/10.1162/1054746041422370.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kumazawa, T., & Perl, E. R. (1977). Primate Cutaneous Sensory Units with Unmyelinated (C) Afferent Fibers. Journal of Neurophysiology, 40(6), 1325–1338. https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.1977.40.6.1325.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Logan, D. E., Breazeal, C., Goodwin, M. S., et al. (2019). Social Robots for Hospitalized Children. Pediatrics, 144(1), e20181511. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2018-1511.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marshall, A. G., & McGlone, F. P. (2020). Affective Touch: The Enigmatic Spinal Pathway of the C-tactile Afferent. Neuroscience Insights, 15, 2633105520925072. https://doi.org/10.1177/2633105520925072.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McGlone, F., Wessberg, J., & Olausson, H. (2014). Discriminative and Affective Touch: Sensing and Feeling. Neuron, 82(4), 737–755. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2014.05.001.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McGlone, F. P., & Walker, S. C. (2020). 4.06– The Neurobiological Basis of Affective Touch. In Fritzsch, B. (Ed.), The Senses: A Comprehensive Reference (2nd Ed.) (pp. 67–78). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-809324-5.24227-2.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKenna, P. E., Ghosh, A., Aylett, R., Broz, F., & Rajendran, G. (2018). Cultural Social Signal Interplay with an Expressive Robot. IVA ‘18. International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents (211–218). Association for Computing Machinery.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLaughlin, M., Jung, Y., Peng, W., Jin, S., & Zhu, W. (2008). Touch in Computer-Mediated Communication. In Konijn, E. A., Utz, S., Tanis, M., & Barnes, S. B. (Eds.), Mediated Interpersonal Communication (pp. 158–176). Routledge.Google Scholar
McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (1st Ed.). McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Merleau-Ponty, M. (2013). Phenomenology of Perception (Landes, D., Trans.). Taylor & Francis. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Lh_e0_y1YjgC.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miyashita, T., Tajika, T., Ishiguro, H., Kogure, K., & Hagita, N. (2007). Haptic Communication between Humans and Robots. In Thrun, S., Brooks, R., & Durrant-Whyte, H. (Eds.), Robotics Research: Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics (pp. 525–536). Springer .Google Scholar
Montagu, A. (1971). Touching: The Human Significance of the Skin. Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Montagu, A. (Ed.). (1986). Touching: The Human Significance of the Skin (3rd Ed.). Harper and Row.Google Scholar
Mori, M., MacDorman, K. F., & Kageki, N. (2012). The Uncanny Valley. IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine, 19(2), 98–100. https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-uncanny-valley (M. Mori, ‘The Uncanny Valley’, Energy, 7(4), 33–35, 1970 (in Japanese)).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrison, I. (2016a). Affective and Social Touch. In Greene, J. D., Morrison, I., & Seligman, M. E. P. (Eds.), Positive Neuroscience (pp. 7–20). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199977925.003.0002.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrison, I. (2016b). Keep Calm and Cuddle on: Social Touch as a Stress Buffer. Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology, 2(4), 344–362. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40750-016-0052-x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrison, I. (2023). Touching to Connect, Explore, and Explain: How the Human Brain Makes Social Touch Meaningful. The Senses and Society, 18(2), 92–109. https://doi.org/10.1080/17458927.2023.2200065.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrison, I., Loken, L. S., & Olausson, H. (2010). The Skin as a Social Organ. Experimental Brain Research, 204(3), 305–314. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-009-2007-y.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nass, C., & Moon, Y. (2000). Machines and Mindlessness: Social Responses to Computers. Journal of Social Issues, 56(1), 81–103. https://doi.org/10.1111/0022-4537.00153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nordin, M. (1990). Low-Threshold Mechanoreceptive and Nociceptive Units with Unmyelinated (C) Fibres in the Human Supraorbital Nerve. The Journal of Physiology, 426, 229–240. https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.1990.sp018135.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Okamura, A. M. (2018). Haptic Dimensions of Human-Robot Interaction. ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction, 7(1), 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1145/3209768.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olausson, H., Lamarre, Y., Backlund, H., et al. (2002). Unmyelinated Tactile Afferents Signal Touch and Project to Insular Cortex. Nature Neuroscience, 5(9), 900–904. https://doi.org/10.1038/nn896.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Olausson, H., Wessberg, J., Morrison, I., McGlone, F., & Vallbo, A. (2010). The Neurophysiology of Unmyelinated Tactile Afferents. Neuroscience Biobehavioral Reviews, 34(2), 185–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2008.09.011.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Olausson, H. W., Cole, J., Vallbo, A., et al. (2008). Unmyelinated Tactile Afferents Have Opposite Effects on Insular and Somatosensory Cortical Processing. Neuroscience Letters, 436(2), 128–132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2008.03.015.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Parisi, D. (2018). Archaeologies of Touch: Interfacing with Haptics from Electricity to Computing. University of Minnesota Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paterson, M. (2006). Feel the Presence: Technologies of Touch and Distance. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 24(5), 691–708. https://doi.org/10.1068/d394t.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paterson, M. (2007). The Senses of Touch: Haptics, Affects, and Technologies. Routledge.Google Scholar
Paterson, M. (2009). Haptic Geographies: Ethnography, Haptic Knowledges and Sensuous Dispositions. Progress in Human Geography, 33(6), 766–788. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132509103155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paterson, M. (2019). On Pain as a Distinct Sensation: Mapping Intensities, Affects, and Difference in ‘Interior States’. Body and Society, 25(3), 100–135. https://doi.org/10.1177/1357034x19834631.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paterson, M. (2021). How We Became Sensorimotor: Movement, Measurement, Sensation. University of Minnesota Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paterson, M. (2023a). Fatigue as a Physiological Problem: Experiments in the Observation and Quantification of Movement and Industrial Labor, 1873–1947. History and Technology, 39(1), 65–90. https://doi.org/10.1080/07341512.2023.2226288.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paterson, M. (2023b). Getting a Grip on New Objects, Technologies, and Sensations through Aura, Presence, and Mimesis. In Vannini, P. (Ed.), The Routledge International Handbook of Sensory Ethnography (pp. 53–68). Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perl, E. R. (1971). Is Pain a Specific Sensation? Journal of Psychiatric Research, 8(3), 273–287. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-3956(71)90024-0.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Price, S., Bianchi-Berthouze, N., Jewitt, C., et al. (2022). The Making of Meaning through Dyadic Haptic Affective Touch. ACM Transactions in Computer-Human Interaction, 29(3), 1–42, Article 21. https://doi.org/10.1145/3490494.Google Scholar
Raisamo, R., Salminen, K., Rantala, J., Farooq, A., & Ziat, M. (2022). Interpersonal Haptic Communication: Review and Directions for the Future. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 166, 102881. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2022.102881.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robles-De-La-Torre, G. (2006). The Importance of the Sense of Touch in Virtual and Real Environments. IEEE Multimedia, 13(3), 24–30. https://doi.org/10.1109/MMUL.2006.69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roegiers, S., Corneillie, E., Lievens, F., et al. (2022). Distinctive Features of Nonverbal Behavior and Mimicry in Application Interviews through Data Analysis and Machine Learning. Machine Learning with Applications, 9, 100318. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mlwa.2022.100318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salter, T., Dautenhahn, K., & Boekhorst, R. T. (2006). Learning about Natural Human–Robot Interaction Styles. Robotics and Autonomous Systems, 54(2), 127–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.robot.2005.09.022.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salter, T., Michaud, F., Létourneau, D., Lee, D. C., & Werry, I. P. (2007). Using Proprioceptive Sensors for Categorizing Human-Robot Interactions. Proceeding of the ACM/IEEE International Conference (105–112). Association for Computing Machinery.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scassellati, B., Admoni, H., & Matarić, M. (2012). Robots for Use in Autism Research. Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering, 14(1), 275–294. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-bioeng-071811-150036.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schirmer, A., Croy, I., & Ackerley, R. (2023). What Are C-tactile Afferents and How Do They Relate to ‘Affective Touch’? Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 151, 105236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105236.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sheridan, T. B. (1989). Telerobotics. Automatica, 25(4), 487–507. https://doi.org/10.1016/0005-1098(89)90093-9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sherrington, C. S. (1906). The Integrative Action of the Nervous System. C. Scribner’s Sons.Google Scholar
Sherrington, C. S. (1907). On the Proprio-ceptive System, Especially in Its Reflex Aspect. Brain, 29(4), 467–482. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/29.4.467.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sterling, P., & Eyer, J. (1990). Allostasis: A New Paradigm to Explain Arousal Pathology. Handbook on Life Stress, Cognition, and Health, 629–649.Google Scholar
Stiehl, W. D., Lee, J. K., Breazeal, C., et al. (2009). The Huggable: A Platform for Research in Robotic Companions for Pediatric Care. Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children (pp. 317–320), Como, Italy. Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/1551788.1551872.Google Scholar
Stiehl, W. D., Lieberman, J., Breazeal, C., et al. (2005). Design of a Therapeutic Robotic Companion for Relational, Affective Touch. ROMAN 2005. IEEE International Workshop on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, 2005.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thayer, S. (1986). History and Strategies of Research on Social Touch. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 10(1), 12–28. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00987202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Titchener, E. B. (1908). The Tridimensional Theory of Feeling. The American Journal of Psychology, 19(2), 213–231. https://doi.org/10.2307/1412760.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tsetserukou, D., Neviarouskaya, A., Prendinger, H., Kawakami, N., & Tachi, S. (2009, 10–12 September 2009). Affective Haptics in Emotional Communication. 2009 3rd International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction and Workshops (pp. 1–6), Amsterdam, Netherlands.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vallbo, Å., Olausson, H., Wessberg, J., & Norrsell, U. (1993). A System of Unmyelinated Afferents for Innocuous Mechanoreception in the Human Skin. Brain Research, 628(1), 301–304. https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-8993(93)90968-S.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vallbo, Å. B. (2018). Microneurography: How It Started and How It Works. Journal of Neurophysiology, 120(3), 1415–1427. https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.00933.2017.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vallbo, Å. B., & Hagbarth, K. E. (1968). Activity from Skin Mechanoreceptors Recorded Percutaneously in Awake Human Subjects. Experimental Neurology, 21(3), 270–289. https://doi.org/10.1016/0014-4886(68)90041-1.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vallbo, A. B., Olausson, H., & Wessberg, J. (2009). Pleasant Touch. In Squire, L. R. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Neuroscience (pp. 741–748). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-008045046-9.01916-1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vallbo, Å. B., Olausson, H., & Wessberg, J. (1999). Unmyelinated Afferents Constitute a Second System Coding Tactile Stimuli of the Human Hairy Skin. Journal of Neurophysiology, 81(6), 2753–2763. https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.1999.81.6.2753.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van Baaren, R. B., Holland, R. W., Kawakami, K., & van Knippenberg, A. (2004). Mimicry and Prosocial Behavior. Psychological Science, 15(1), 71–74. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0963-7214.2004.01501012.x.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van Swol, L. M. (2003). The Effects of Nonverbal Mirroring on Perceived Persuasiveness, Agreement with an Imitator, and Reciprocity in a Group Discussion. Communication Research, 30(4), 461–480. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650203253318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ventre-Dominey, J., Gibert, G., Bosse-Platiere, M., et al. (2019). Embodiment into a Robot Increases Its Acceptability. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 10083. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-46528-7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Walker, R., & Bartneck, C. (2013, 26–29 August 2013). The Pleasure of Receiving a Head Massage from a Robot. 2013 IEEE RO-MAN.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weber, E. H. (1996). E.H. Weber on the Tactile Senses Ross, H. E., & Murray, D. J. (Eds.), (2nd Ed.). Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar
Wessberg, J., Olausson, H., Fernstrom, K. W., & Vallbo, A. B. (2003). Receptive Field Properties of Unmyelinated Tactile Afferents in the Human Skin. Journal of Neurophysiology, 89(3), 1567–1575. https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.00256.2002.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yohanan, S., & MacLean, K. E. (2008). The Haptic Creature Project: Social Human-Robot Interaction through Affective Touch. Proceedings of the AISB 2008 Symposium on the Reign of Catz & Dogs: The Second AISB Symposium on the Role of Virtual Creatures in a Computerised Society (pp. 7–11). The Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and Simulation of Behaviour,Google Scholar
Yohanan, S., & MacLean, K. E. (2009). A Tool to Study Affective Touch CHI ‘09 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Boston, MA, USA. https://doi-org.pitt.idm.oclc.org/10.1145/1520340.1520632.Google Scholar
Yohanan, S., & MacLean, K. E. (2011). The Role of Affective Touch in Human-Robot Interaction: Human Intent and Expectations in Touching the Haptic Creature. International Journal of Social Robotics, 4(2), 163–180. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12369-011-0126-7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
York, G. K. III, & Steinberg, D. A. (2011). Hughlings Jackson’s Neurological Ideas. Brain, 134(10), 3106–3113. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awr219.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zotterman, Y. (1936). Specific Action Potentials in the Lingual Nerve of Cat. Skandinavisches Archiv Für Physiologie, 75(3), 105–119. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-1716.1936.tb01558.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zotterman, Y. (1937). A Note on the Relation between Conduction Rate and Fibre Size in Mammalian Nerves 1. Skandinavisches Archiv Für Physiologie, 77(2), 123–128. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-1716.1937.tb01174.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zotterman, Y. (1939a). The Nervous Mechanism of Touch and Pain. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 14(1–2), 91–97. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0447.1939.tb06617.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zotterman, Y. (1939b). Touch, Pain and Tickling: An Electro-Physiological Investigation on Cutaneous Sensory Nerves. The Journal of Physiology, 95(1), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.1939.sp003707.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zotterman, Y. (1979). How It Started: A Personal Review. In Kenshalo, D. R. (Ed.), SensoryFunctions of the Skin of Humans (pp. 5–22). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-3039-4_2.CrossRefGoogle Scholar