Haptic Empathy: Investigating Individual Differences in Affective Haptic Communications

Yulan Ju, Xiaru Meng, Harunobu Taguchi, Tamil Selvan Gunasekaran, Matthias Hoppe, Hironori Ishikawa, Yoshihiro Tanaka, Yun Suen Pai, Kouta Minamizawa

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Nowadays, touch remains essential for emotional conveyance and interpersonal communication as more interactions are mediated remotely. While many studies have discussed the effectiveness of using haptics to communicate emotions, incorporating affect into haptic design still faces challenges due to individual user tactile acuity and preferences. We assessed the conveying of emotions using a two-channel haptic display, emphasizing individual differences. First, 24 participants generated 187 haptic messages reflecting their immediate sentiments after watching 8 emotionally charged film clips. Afterwards, 19 participants were asked to identify emotions from haptic messages designed by themselves and others, yielding 593 samples. Our findings suggest potential links between haptic message decoding ability and emotional traits, particularly Emotional Competence (EC) and Affect Intensity Measure (AIM). Additionally, qualitative analysis revealed three strategies participants used to create touch messages: perceptive, empathetic, and metaphorical expression.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationCHI 2025 - Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
ISBN (Electronic)9798400713941
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2025 Apr 26
Event2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2025 - Yokohama, Japan
Duration: 2025 Apr 262025 May 1

Publication series

NameConference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings

Conference

Conference2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2025
Country/TerritoryJapan
CityYokohama
Period25/4/2625/5/1

Keywords

  • affective computing
  • emotion encoding
  • emotion expression
  • emotion recognition
  • haptic interfaces
  • vibration

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design
  • Software

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