Huggy Pajama: A Remote Interactive Touch and Hugging System

Huggy Pajama is a novel wearable system aimed at promoting physical interaction in remote communication between parent and child. This system enables parents and children to hug one another through a hugging interface device and a wearable, hug reproducing pajama connected through the Internet. The hug input device is a small, mobile doll with an embedded pressure sensing circuit that is able to accurately sense varying levels of pressure along the range of human touch produced from natural touch. This device sends hug signals to a haptic jacket that simulates the feeling of being hugged to the wearer. It features air pocket actuators that reproduce hug sensations, heating elements to produce warmth that accompanies hugs, and a color changing pattern and accessory to indicate distance of separation and communicate expressions. In this chapter, we present the system design of Huggy Pajama. We also show results from quantitative and qualitative user studies which show the effectiveness of the system simulating an actual human touch. Results also indicate an increased sense of presence between parents and children when used as an added component to instant messaging and video chat communication.

[1]  M. Heller.  The Psychology of Touch , 1991 .

[2]  Shakti Sharma,et al.  Maternal Programming of Sexual Behavior and Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Gonadal Function in the Female Rat , 2008, PloS one.

[3]  Michael J Meaney,et al.  Epigenetic programming by maternal behavior , 2004, Nature Neuroscience.

[4]  Martin R. Gibbs,et al.  Hug over a distance , 2005, CHI Extended Abstracts.

[5]  Adrian David Cheok,et al.  A mobile pet wearable computer and mixed reality system for human–poultry interaction through the internet , 2006, Personal and Ubiquitous Computing.

[6]  Roope Raisamo,et al.  Emotional and behavioral responses to haptic stimulation , 2008, CHI.

[7]  Leonardo Bonanni,et al.  TapTap: a haptic wearable for asynchronous distributed touch therapy , 2006, CHI Extended Abstracts.

[8]  K. White.  Touch: Attachment and the Body , 2004 .

[9]  Cynthia Breazeal,et al.  The huggable: a therapeutic robotic companion for relational, affective touch , 2006, CCNC 2006. 2006 3rd IEEE Consumer Communications and Networking Conference, 2006..

[10]  Albrecht Schmidt,et al.  Evaluating capacitive touch input on clothes , 2008, Mobile HCI.

[11]  W. Roth,et al.  Social anxiety and response to touch: incongruence between self-evaluative and physiological reactions , 2001, Biological Psychology.

[12]  Robert W. Lindeman,et al.  Towards full-body haptic feedback: the design and deployment of a spatialized vibrotactile feedback system , 2004, VRST '04.

[13]  N. Henley,et al.  Body Politics: Power, Sex, and Nonverbal Communication , 1977 .

[14]  Jonathan D. Cohen,et al.  Rubber hands ‘feel’ touch that eyes see , 1998, Nature.

[15]  Hendrik A. H. C. van Veen,et al.  Waypoint navigation with a vibrotactile waist belt , 2005, TAP.

[16]  Jodi Forlizzi,et al.  The Hug: a new form for communication , 2003, DUX '03.

[17]  Cati N. Boulanger,et al.  Touch: sensitive apparel , 2007, CHI Extended Abstracts.

[18]  T. Field,et al.  Infants’ Need for Touch , 2002, Human Development.

[19]  Scott E. Hudson.  Using light emitting diode arrays as touch-sensitive input and output devices , 2004, UIST '04.

[20]  Arnaud Delorme,et al.  EEGLAB: an open source toolbox for analysis of single-trial EEG dynamics including independent component analysis , 2004, Journal of Neuroscience Methods.

[21]  D J Newman,et al.  A tactile display for international space station (ISS) extravehicular activity (EVA). , 2000, Aviation, space, and environmental medicine.

[22]  Leonardo Bonanni,et al.  PlayPals: tangible interfaces for remote communication and play , 2006, CHI EA '06.

[23]  Hiroshi Ishii,et al.  Tangible interfaces for remote collaboration and communication , 1998, CSCW '98.

[24]  W. Whitehead,et al.  Heart Rate Response to Touch1 , 1980, Psychosomatic medicine.

[25]  D. Stack,et al.  Infant touching behaviour during mother–infant face‐to‐face interactions , 2007 .

[26]  Darren Gergle,et al.  Emotion rating from short blog texts , 2008, CHI.

[27]  Masahiko Inami,et al.  RobotPHONE: RUI for interpersonal communication , 2001, CHI Extended Abstracts.

[28]  Daniel Fallman,et al.  Design-oriented human-computer interaction , 2003, CHI '03.

[29]  S. Weiss,et al.  Maternal Tactile Stimulation and the Neurodevelopment of Low Birth Weight Infants. , 2004 .

[30]  H. Harlow.  The Nature of Love , 1958 .

[31]  M. Bradley,et al.  Affective picture processing: the late positive potential is modulated by motivational relevance. , 2000, Psychophysiology.

[32]  Wijnand A. IJsselsteijn,et al.  Investigating response similarities between real and mediated social touch: a first test , 2007, CHI Extended Abstracts.

[33]  R Bakeman,et al.  Early interaction: consequences for social and mental development at three years. , 1980, Child development.

[34]  R. Heslin,et al.  Nonverbal Intimacy in Airport Arrival and Departure , 1980 .

[35]  J. Bowlby.  Attachment and loss: retrospect and prospect. , 1969, The American journal of orthopsychiatry.

[36]  James L. Fosshage,et al.  The Meaning of Touch in Psychoanalysis: A Time for Reassessment , 2000 .

[37]  M Peláez-Nogueras,et al.  Depressed mothers' touching increases infants' positive affect and attention in still-face interactions. , 1996, Child development.

[38]  Mikael Wiberg,et al.  Moving pictures: looking out/looking in , 2005, SIGGRAPH '05.

[39]  M. Bradley,et al.  Large-scale neural correlates of affective picture processing. , 2002, Psychophysiology.

[40]  C. Falicov,et al.  Training to think culturally: a multidimensional comparative framework. , 1995, Family process.