Interpersonal tactile interaction plays a crucial role in emotional regulation and physiological responses, with affective touch demonstrating significant benefits in stress reduction and affective modulation. Existing approaches to replicating affective touch have relied on manual stroking or robotic brushing mechanisms, both of which present limitations in consistency, precision, and real-world applicability. This study introduces a Wearable Microblower System that utilizes airflow-based tactile stimulation to provide precisely controlled and reproducible affective touch stimuli. The system is designed to generate affective touch by producing stroking sensations at CT-optimal velocities and pressures, ensuring effective activation of CT afferents. A systematic performance evaluation confirmed that the device delivers tactile forces within the CT-optimal range, suggesting its potential feasibility for affective haptic applications. Moreover, the proposed system enables continuous and natural stroking through a control strategy that incorporates sequential activation of multiple stroking points. Our evaluation results indicate that the proposed device offers a quantifiable and reproducible means of delivering affective touch, with potential applications in stress alleviation, affective computing, and virtual reality–mediated haptic experiences. Future work will explore empirical validation through comparative studies and further integration with immersive technologies.

SUMMARY From facial expressions to gestures, animals use multiple signal modalities to express emotions and communicate. In dogs, tail movements are conspicuous behaviours associated with emotional states, but this link remains debated. We investigated canine emotional states underlying tail wagging by systematically analysing differences in tail movements in a computer-controlled task encompassing two non-social Conditions – Rewarded (positive) and Unrewarded (negative), and two Epochs (pre-response and outcome anticipation). Using pose-tracking we found that 11 out of 23 dogs did not wag their tails in at least 75% of trials, suggesting that some dogs may inherently wag less or that tail wagging is primarily a social signal. Our results showed that dogs were more likely to wag during positive anticipation; whereas in the negative condition, despite tail amplitude being more prominent, increased speeds reflected arousal rather than valence. Further work should assess tail kinematics in social contexts to test and extend these findings.

The problem of human isolation and loneliness is growing worldwide. Although there are ways to provide human support, there are sustainability issues, so support using conversational physical partners, such as robots, is attracting attention as an alternative solution. Most previous attempts have been based on a single robot, and there are few attempts that use multiple robots, especially those that form a family and try to save the user from isolation and loneliness. This study aims to develop a basic infrastructure system to realize such a family consisting of multiple robots and a single human. More specifically, in this paper we report on the implementation and preliminary verification of two types of dialogue generation for robots using ROS (Robot Operating System) and GPT-4o-mini: one is a centralized system (in which the command center generates conversation scenarios for each robot in batches) and the other is a distributed system (in which each robot generates conversations individually).

Inspired by an animal behavior called bunting, in which the animal rubs its head against other objects, including humans, we developed robotic prototypes capable of performing such bunting behaviors. Since physical contact plays an important role in therapeutic interactions between pets and their owners, we hypothesize that robot bunting can have a similar effect on its user. This article reports on the development of such a robot with a flexible neck that can change its stiffness while the robot is rubbing its head against the user. An exploratory study was also conducted with 22 human participants, on whom the developed robot performed head bunting with three different (low/high/variable) stiffness conditions. The results show that the participants' psychological tension, as measured by the temporary mood scale (TMS), was significantly reduced (p < 0.001) after interacting with the robot. The difference between the three stiffness conditions was not significant in this study. Due to the lack of a control condition, we cannot confirm a clear effect of the stiffness change; however, some participants commented that the stiffness change made the robot's behavior lifelike and relaxing.

In this short paper, we have categorized exaggeration expressions and created mathematical models of each movement that modify the expressions to be able to generalize them. We also created Mochi, a robot that uses Squash and Stretch, exaggerates these movements, and further exaggerates shape changes by inflating and shrinking to evaluate its movement, which we categorized and the impression. The results show that Mochi could reproduce eight types of motion and shape exaggeration expressions with only two actuators, and suggested that variations in speed are easily perceived as exaggerated movements. This study supports quantitative design of exaggerated robot motions.

Cyberbullying on social networking sites can cause harm by increasing the likelihood of suicidal thoughts and attempts and should be controlled. To control cyberbullying in the long term, it is necessary to change the attitudes and behaviors of individuals who engage in harmful communication. In the current study, we focused on positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA), which are related to attitudes and behaviors. We developed two SNS applications (X-type and VRChat-type) that incorporate nudge using Multilingual Translation (NMT), which translates cyberbullying words into positive words in other languages. The process also exposes users to positive reactions from imaginary third parties who have seen these positive words. In this paper, we describe the development of two types of SNS applications and report the initial results of a pilot study to explore their potential utility.

This paper discusses the integration of a soft pneumatic actuator (SPA) with a shape memory alloy (SMA) to improve haptic technologies in social robotics. The use of traditional rigid actuators in robots can lead to unnatural interactions, while SPAs offer flexibility but may lack precision. SMAs are known for their shape memory effect and precision, but they also have limitations, such as time-consuming heating-cooling cycles. Our research proposes a hybrid actuator that combines the adaptability of SPAs with the precision of SMAs to enhance haptic interaction with social robots. The hybrid actuator is designed to overcome the individual limitations of SPAs and SMAs and achieve a synergistic effect. As a first attempt, the hybrid actuator is intended for use in Reliebo, an inflatable social robot, to provide more natural and responsive interactions. This approach has the potential to improve the emotional and haptic aspects of human-computer interaction and social robotics.

The Proteus effect, which occurs when using an avatar in virtual reality, influences user behavior, changes attitudes, and improves physical performance. Here, we show that human pain perception can be alleviated by the Proteus effect. To investigate the pain alleviation effect of using an avatar in a virtual environment, we conducted two experiments using a head-mounted display and a thermal pain stimulator to induce acute pain. The first experiment involved 20 adult participants, while the second experiment involved 44 adult participants. Experimental results show that participants reported significantly lower pain scores (15.982% reduction), as measured by the Pain Assessment Scale (PAS), when using a muscular avatar than when using a normal avatar. The experiments also revealed several significant gender factors. For example, participants reported significantly lower pain scores when using a gender-congruent avatar. In addition, the use of a muscular avatar was particularly effective for male participants. In contrast, female participants consistently reported lower pain scores when using the avatar regardless of its body type (muscular/normal). To further our understanding, we also measured participants’ gender-related pain stereotypes using the Gender Role Expectations of Pain (GREP) questionnaire, as well as participants’ sense of embodiment. The results of these questionnaires are consistent with the results of the PAS, suggesting possible relationships between stereotypes and the Proteus effect on pain perception, and between the degree of immersion in an avatar and the user’s perception of pain.

The utilization of robotic haptic stimuli in mediating remote conflicts has shown promising potential. Understanding how users figuratively interpret the metaphor of these stimuli in actual conflict scenarios is vital for the informed design of future mediation robots. The primary objective of this research is to delve into these interpretations and their implications. In this paper, we introduce a mediation robot capable of varying its temperature and softness to embody two roles: Avatar, representing one party in a conflict to express emotions and states, and Companion, serving as an emotional companion for the user. Through a study with 30 participants, we aimed to uncover and analyze the figurative explanations provided by users in response to the robot’s haptic stimuli during conflict situations. Findings indicate that temperature changes were associated with emotional states like anger (hot) and fear (cold), while softness levels were linked to concepts of rigidity (hard) and flexibility (soft). This exploration allows us to discuss the potential role of robotic haptic mediation in remote conflict, thereby contributing valuable insights for the design of future mediation robots.

Robot programming education has been actively promoted around the world. Robot programming education is recommended to incorporate collaborative learning, and the role of the teacher is important. However, due to educational disparities, teachers are currently unable to adequately support collaborative learning. We developed a voice support system that automates the teacher’s voice and a matching system that automates the group formation in online pair collaborative learning of robot programming, followed by an evaluation experiment of these systems. The voice support system had a positive impact on learners to solve problems. In addition, the matching system was highly satisfactory for learners with low basic academic ability.

It is well known that the tails of dogs function to communicate with their pack mates or owners and to express their emotions by changing the tail positions and the way of wagging their tails. For this reason, there is a growing trend to use tail wagging as an objective indicator of dogs’ emotions in experiments in the field of biology. However, since the breeds and personalities of dogs participating in experiments generally vary, each dog’s tail wagging often differs for the same emotion. Therefore, this study aims to develop a personalized emotion classification system that extracts the wave characteristics of tail wagging acquired from pose-estimation software, SLEAP, and assigns emotion labels based on the situations.

A plug-in weight-shifting module that can be inserted into a variety of objects is presented. The module is equipped with a movable weight inside its body. Three-dimensional weight shifts are presented by controlling one-dimensional translational and two-dimensional rotational movements. To explore the use case of this weight-shifting module, eight weight shift patterns expressing certain emotions were created through a workshop and a qualitative analysis. User tests, to which three different embodiments and scenarios were applied, examined the following three cases: the weight shift patterns were presented to the user by a) a stuffed toy-style robot that mediated human messaging, b) a cushion that made the user relax, and c) a container that enhanced the user's movie-watching experience. User interviews revealed the feasibility of the module and its weight shift patterns for the user's perception of emotions.

Interpersonal conflicts are often more difficult to mediate when communicating remotely. The lack of social cues and external mediation makes it difficult for positive conflict behaviors to occur. To this end, robots have been shown to have the potential as mediators. In this paper, we attempt to discuss how to design appropriate bodily contact interactions for the different roles of a robot mediator so as to facilitate the effectiveness of its mediation. We first conduct a pilot interview to probe the potential roles and design elements of robot contact in this study. Then, we explore the relationship between these roles and design elements through a 16-participant design workshop. Finally, we analyze these findings and propose design suggestions for future robot mediator design.

Encouraging the self-disclosure of the elderly is important for preventing their social isolation. In this article, we discuss a use case in which social robots are employed to mediate remote communication between elderly individuals and their family members or friends. This research aims to elaborate design guidelines for social mediator robots concerning how robots should convey messages from elderly individuals to their recipients. We particularly considered human–robot interactions in which elderly individuals can choose the robot’s behavior (i.e., messaging options) based on their preference. If the robot is implemented with effective messaging options, the elderly’s anxiety about self-disclosing information they usually feel reluctant to share with others (e.g., loss experiences) may be mitigated. An online survey of 589 elderly participants showed that the messaging options for the mediator robot should be designed in three types: requesting-support, concealing, and recording. The study results also suggest that each of the messaging options should be chosen according to the relationships between the factors of recipients, disclosers’ personal characteristics, and dialog topics. Furthermore, an empirical human–robot interaction study conducted with 36 elderly participants suggested that the anxiety of elderly disclosers was significantly lower when they could apply their preferable messaging options to self-disclosure than the case when the robot did not provide any messaging options to them. Thus, the effectiveness of the messaging options designed through this study was demonstrated.