Designing Touch for Trauma-Informed Social Robots: A Design Space for Direct and Indirect Actuation

Jul 16, 2026

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Touch is a core communication modality in human-robot interaction that can support grounding, emotional regulation, and stress reduction in therapeutic settings. For people with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), touch-based interaction must follow trauma-informed care principles emphasizing safety, transparency, autonomy, and avoidance of triggers. The work distinguishes direct touch (physical contact) from indirect touch (artifact-mediated via wearables or smart textiles) and proposes a design space defined by actuation modality, objective, and intended effect, yielding design considerations for trauma-sensitive social robots.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages5

Reading Time13 min

Introduction

Direct and Indirect Touch

Direct Touch

Indirect Touch

Designing Touch for Trauma-Informed Social Robots: A Design Space for Direct and Indirect Actuation Madeleine Rischer AI Ethics Research Hub Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg, Germany [madeleine.rischer@hsu.hamburg](madeleine.rischer@hsu.hamburg) Benedikt Bußmann AI Ethics Research Hub Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg, Germany [benediktbussmann@hsu.hamburg](benediktbussmann@hsu.hamburg) arXiv :2607 .0498 1v 1 [ cs .RO] 6 Jul 2026 Abstract—Touch is a fundamental communication modality inhuman-robot interaction and may support grounding, emotional regulation, and stress reduction in therapeutic contexts. However, designing touch-based interactions for individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) requires careful consideration of trauma-informed care (TIC) principles, including safety, transparency, autonomy, and trigger avoidance. This paper investigates how touch actuation in social robots can be designed to align with trauma-informed care. We distinguish between direct touch, involving physical contact between a user and a robot, and indirect touch, mediated through artifacts such as wearables or smart textiles. Building on this distinction, we propose a design space comprising three dimensions: Actuation Modality, Objective of the Actuation, and Intended Effect of the Actuation. We analyze these dimensions through the lens of trauma-informed care and derive key design considerations for touch-based interventions. The resulting approach provides a conceptual foundation for developing trauma-sensitive social robots that support individuals with PTSD through touch-based interactions. Index Terms—Touch, Social Robots, Trauma-Informed Design, Tactile Interaction, HRI I. INTRODUCTION Touch represents a fundamental mode of human communication that extends beyond verbal interaction. Within humanrobot interaction (HRI), tactile interaction has increasingly attracted attention as a means of creating more embodied, intuitive, and emotionally meaningful forms of engagement between humans and robots [1] . Social robots can communicate not only through speech, visual cues, and movement, but also through haptic, thermal, and other bodily forms of feedback [2, cf. p. 972] [3, cf. p. 9] . Such body-centered interaction modalities are particularly relevant in contexts where emotional regulation and social support are central goals [4] [5] [6] . Touch is also highly relevant in the treatment of individuals with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) [7] . Contemporary PTSD interventions increasingly emphasize physiologyinformed and body-centered micro-interventions that support grounding, emotional regulation, stabilization, and stress reduction [8] [7] . These approaches may help individuals re- connect with the present moment during periods of heightened arousal or distress and can function as social signals of safety that reduce stress and physiological activation [9] [8] . Motivated by the potential of social robots to provide supportive therapeutic micro-interventions for individuals with PTSD in everyday situations [6, cf. p. 4], this work investigates touch as a communication and actuation modality within trauma-sensitive human-robot interaction. However, designing touch-based interaction for PTSD support introduces unique challenges. Trauma-informed care (TIC) emphasizes core principles such as safety, trustworthiness, transparency, empowerment, choice, and sensitivity toward individual trauma triggers [10, cf. p. 6] . Touch that is perceived as unexpected, invasive, or reminiscent of traumatic experiences may cause distress or contribute to retraumatization [10] . Consequently, touch-based interventions must be designed to respect autonomy, consent, individual boundaries, and user control over bodily interaction [10] . These considerations lead to the following research question: RQ: How should touch actuation for social robots be designed to align with trauma-informed care principles? To ad

FAQs

What does the paper mean by trauma-informed touch design for social robots?

It requires touch-based interactions to respect trauma-informed care principles such as safety, transparency, autonomy, and sensitivity to individual triggers, to avoid distress or retraumatization.

How are direct touch and indirect touch distinguished?

Direct touch involves physical contact between the user and the robot (human-to-robot or robot-to-human), while indirect touch is mediated through technological artifacts like wearables or smart textiles.

What are the three dimensions of the proposed design space for touch actuation?

The design space is organized by actuation modality, the objective of the actuation, and the intended effect of the actuation.

Jul 16, 2026

Upload by Liam