Introduction

Touch is a fundamental form of non-verbal communication since it is so important for communicating and expressing emotions. Due to the advancement of technology, human contact through information and communication technology (ICT) is frequently mediated by modern communication systems like mobile phones and videoconferencing equipment. They don't use touch to communicate, which is why haptics agents or robots are becoming more popular. Experts are developing new strategies for generating touch as a social communication tool. According to Lin et al. (2012), haptics is the stage of development that is focused on the design, assessment, and analysis of a device that can process, capture, and display emotions through the sense of touch. The concept of touch-enabled robots was inspired by ICT-generated touch, which will aid telepresence, healthcare, and educational applications (Levy & Murnane, 2013). The purpose of this research article is to provide an overview of haptic robots, discuss the value of haptic contact for humans, and discuss prospective applications for touch robots, their advantages, and ethical considerations.

A Human's Need for Haptic Contact 

Researchers first used the term haptic in the 20th century; it is taken from the Greek word for touch. In psychological trials, the researchers employed "touch agents" to describe when people physically contact an item (Lin et al., 2012). To research social touch and human-computer interaction, it has brought together a variety of fields, including engineering, psychology, biometrics, computer science, and neurophysiology. This work has aided teleoperation, touchscreen interaction, entertainment, and communication for those who are blind or visually challenged. Some emotions in humans can only be expressed through touch. When people are in separate places, they use mediated virtual touch to communicate their sentiments.

A psychologist claims that by using mediated touch, haptic robots may successfully communicate the same feelings as people (Walther & D'Addario, 2001). In a way that audio-visual technologies cannot, the researchers employ haptic technology to portray emotions, identify emotions, and provide feedback. The majority of communication tools solely output visual and audible answers. Haptic robots provide emotional dialogue through touch. This will support achieving behavioral changes, establishing trust, and sharing feelings. According to Mirvis et al. (1991), mediated contact employs haptic devices to transmit communicative feelings from one user to another. Communication is transferred from the machine to the user by the agents.

Because they can facilitate remote communication for spouses or families spread out over multiple locales, haptic robots and mediated emotional touch are important. The haptic robots may effectively communicate feelings to couples, strengthening long-distance relationships in addition to providing visual and acoustic cues. The computer systems can offer sufficient information to the users with the aid of mediated emotive touch. At the nexus of psychology and ICT, this study is still in the development stage (Yee et al., 2007). Users will be able to overcome some ICT obstacles and enhance the research environment thanks to this efficient communication.

In psychotherapy, haptic touch can be used to let the doctor see the patient's feelings through the robot. The psychotherapist can communicate with their patients through video chat during COVID-19 and use mediated emotional touch to interpret their emotions (Lin et al., 2012). Haptic robots can help medical professionals comprehend patients who are coma-bound or unable to communicate their emotions. Advanced, mediated, and effective communication can support the delivery of complementary therapies like vibroacoustic therapy and acupressure by health professionals (Loughnan et al., 2011). Most health practitioners may use this to assist them in giving their patients distant care.

Potential Applications of Haptic Robots in Physiological Therapy
Blood pressure and heart rate have been shown to decrease in response to a soft touch or mediated emotional contact. Additionally, research has shown that touch may influence how stress hormones are released. When lovers touch one another, their brains respond more quickly to the contact's tiny electric shock. A warm embrace or a little touch on the back might lessen the chill. The value of a shared experience is altered through mediated communication, which also heightens the sense of intimacy between two people.

A shared experience, like a hilarious movie or a fond memory, can be improved remotely by stimulating a person's hand through mediated touch. It may also make the couple seem more sympathetic. A user displayed a high level of connection when a squeeze in the arm went along with the tale, according to a storytelling example (Loughnan et al., 2011). According to Mannal and Fatik (2014), people who converse with their spouses while embracing a haptic robot have increased attraction and sentiment. In this situation, the haptic robot can assist in lowering heart rate, blood pressure, anger, tension, and cold.

Behavioral

The users may receive both happiness and rage through mediated emotional touch. Haptic agents may communicate by evoking emotions, which can change people's perceptions of objects, people, or services. They foster ties and social interactions. One can influence a salesperson's product in a favorable or negative way, for instance, by touching them (McLaughlin et al., 2011). The same can be sensed by a haptic agent, who can then transmit the feelings to the recipient. A person can assess their conversation partners more easily by using mediated emotional touch to boost the information flow. The same behavior or order of magnitude will be transferred from one user to another through a mediated emotive touch.

Affective

Telepresence robots, a new innovation, allow for physical interaction between people in distant settings. While they are at their remote locations, the robots provide users with a tactile impression of the other users. The use of telepresence robots allows for embodied teleconferencing, doctors watching their patients, remote kid instruction, and senior care facility monitoring. According to Peräkylä and Sorjonen (2012), telepresence reciprocates a person's behavior and gives the receiver multimodal feedback in real-time. These robots' touch sensitivity has not been fully characterized. In the case of two people who are close to one another, mediated contact works. Mutual comprehension and trust are aspects of mediated communication. The relationship between the transmitter and the recipient is what determines how mediated touch works. According
According to Wallace and D'Addario (2001), mediated interaction between strangers who do not have a common relationship might be unpleasant. In the majority of technological systems today, touch signals are mediated through visual and audible assistance.

The medium that allows people to receive touch from a virtual being is still being developed by researchers. The researcher will need to create a tool that can transmit touch signals from one user to the gadget and back to the system (Van et al., 2015). The touch signals must also be understood and interpreted by the haptic agents. For young people who are deaf, tactile jackets and dancing vests have recently come into fashion. While viewing movies, the tactile jacket heightens emotions. According to Yee et al. (2007), the dancing jacket translated musical impulses into vibration patterns. Through vibrational patterns, music may transmit emotional content to listeners.

Transferring feelings and expression from one person to another is one advantage of mediated touch. Even if certain mediated touch apps are still in the development stage, they will increase remote employment in the healthcare sector, in educational institutions, and even in other workplaces. A few ethical problems will surface, including a lack of confidence in haptic agents, the protection of personal data, and the vulnerability of organizational data and information. Most businesses will begin utilizing haptic robots to gather personal information in order to promote their products because the majority of communication gadgets already in use take personal information from individuals for advertising purposes. Couples will also feel as though they are being watched or that it is not completely secure for them to discuss delicate topics on the (Walther & D'Addario, 2001) channels. Businesses may also believe that their data is not safe. Companies that make haptic robots will need to address security concerns before releasing their devices.

Conclusion 

In conclusion, haptic agents will significantly alter the state of technology. People will be able to experience their partner's emotions, while businesses will be able to hold remote meetings with both their employees and clients. Since individuals can converse remotely and sense each other's emotions even when they are thousands of kilometers apart, mediated emotional contact will facilitate labor. The haptic agents can assist healthcare professionals in this COVID-19 stage without being personally involved. Additionally, it will encourage long-distance partnerships and reunite geographically dispersed family members. To prevent issues in the future, the haptic robot firms must handle personal information sharing