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Do you enjoy the feeling of petting a cat, but don't have one? Let technology help you!

Inspired by cats, a new study conducted by scientists at Cornell University suggests that the automated brushing of hairy skin is an effective form of passive stress reduction.

"We first engineered a wearable device that renders affective touch on the user's forearm by creating a soft stroking sensation via a moving brush-like actuator. Then, we stimulated cognitive stress in laboratory and conducted a between-group experiment and post-experiment interviews with 24 participants," according to the research team. 

The study utilizes affective touch, which is "the slow-moving, low-force mechanical stimulation on hairy skin."

Past work has shown that affective touch can convey positive emotions, reduce feelings of social exclusion and increase tolerance to pain.

In another study, 40 participants received either 35 min of brush stroking targeting C-tactile fibres (CT) or vibration on the forearm, and rated pleasantness and intensity.

Heart rate variability increased for brush stroking only, and was related to the higher pleasantness and intensity.

The results showed that participants who received affective touch experienced lower state anxiety... It is also found that affective touch facilitated emotion regulation by rendering pleasantness, providing emotional support, and shifting attention.

The researchers also observed large individual differences in what contexts participants want to receive affective touch. Some participants preferred to use affective touch during stressful tasks to feel better and more focused, while others favored affectvie touch as a preparation for anticipated stress.

If the device initiates the intervention, the users do not need to allocate cognitive capacity to seek intervention in demanding situations. If the user starts the intervention, they enjoy complete control over the intervention but are on their own in caring for themselves.

"I believe many people would like to enjoy the feeling of pet and baby play-bites over and over again... Gestures like play-biting are expected to not only bring comfort but also reduce stress and provide healing," according to Masahiro Shiomi, the Advanced Director of Telecommunications Research Institute International.

Another research team from the University of Colorado concludes that the "otherness" of robotic touch broadens the design possibilities of emotional communication beyond mimicking interpersonal touch.

"Since we do not share the same language, the body language and tactile channel may perform a significant role in animal-human communication, which indicates the study of animal behavior might be a good inspiration for designing expressive robots," the study wrote.

"The armrest of the theater seat will touch you while you are watching the movie, its emotion will change with the story in the film. It can be implemented to bottle or jar. It may punish you by anger emotion because you are too impatient that want to drink the super hot water or take too many candies," according to Ran Zhou, the designer and researcher of the study.

Editor: Judy Chi, 

Intern:  Xiaoyan Zhang, 

Source: Bring Science Home  New Atlas