In this paper we present the concept and initial design stages of the TaSST (Tactile Sleeve for Social Touch). The TaSST consists of a soft pressure-sensitive input layer, and an output layer containing vibration motors. A touch to ones own sleeve is felt as a vibration on the sleeve of another person. The idea behind the TaSST is to enable two people to communicate dierent types of touch at a distance. We will outline the design process of the TaSST, describe some initial results from a user study, and discuss possible applications of the TaSST.
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In this paper we investigate the expression of emotions through mediated touch. Participants used the Tactile Sleeve for Social Touch (TaSST), a wearable sleeve that consists of a pressure sensitive input layer, and a vibration motor output layer, to record a number of expressions of discrete emotions. The aim was to investigate if participants could make meaningful distinctions in the tactile expression of the emotions.
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In this paper we outline the design process of TaSST (Tactile Sleeve for Social Touch), a touch-sensitive vibrotactile arm sleeve. The TaSST was designed to enable two people to communicate different types of touches over a distance. The touch-sensitive surface of the sleeve consists of a grid of 4x3 compartments filled with conductive wool. Each compartment controls the vibration intensity of a vibration motor, located in a grid of 4x3 motors beneath the touch sensitive layer. An initial evaluation of the TaSST was conducted in order to assess its capabilities for communicating different types of touch.
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Psychosocial problems related to social isolation are a growing issue for wellbeing and health and have become a significant societal problem. This is especially relevant for children and adults with chronic illnesses and disabilities, and those spending extended periods in hospitals or permanently living in assisted living facilities. A lack of social relationships, social connectivity, and the inability to travel freely leads to feelings of isolation and loneliness. Loneliness interventions often use mediated environments to improve the feeling of connectedness. It has been proven that the utilization of haptic technologies enhances realism and the sense of presence in both virtual environments and telepresence in physical places by allowing the user to experience interaction through the sense of touch. However, the technology application is mostly limited to the experiences of serious games in professional environments and for-entertainment-gaming. This project aims to explore how haptic technologies can support the storytelling of semi-scripted experiences in VR to improve participants’ sense of presence and, therefore, the feeling of connectedness. By designing and prototyping the experience, the project aims to obtain insights and offer a better understanding of designing haptic-technology-supported storytelling and its potential to improve connectedness and become a useful tool in isolation interventions. The project will be conducted through the process of participants’ co-creation.