[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-81916-en":3,"doc-seo-81916-105":29,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":20,"is_downloadable":20,"audit_status":20,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":27,"read_time":28},81916,8796095461564,"Liam","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d",7,"Healthcare","Designing Touch for Trauma-Informed Social Robots: A Design Space for Direct and Indirect Actuation","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.","Designing Touch for Trauma-Informed Social Robots: A Design Space for Direct and Indirect  \nActuation  \nMadeleine Rischer   \nAI Ethics Research Hub Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg, Germany [madeleine.rischer@hsu.hamburg](madeleine.rischer@hsu.hamburg)  \nBenedikt Bußmann   \nAI Ethics Research Hub Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg, Germany [benediktbussmann@hsu.hamburg](benediktbussmann@hsu.hamburg)  \narXiv :2607 .0498 1v 1 [ cs .RO] 6 Jul 2026  \nAbstract—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.  \nIndex Terms—Touch, Social Robots, Trauma-Informed Design, Tactile Interaction, HRI  \nI. INTRODUCTION  \nTouch 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] .  \nTouch 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-  \nconnect 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] .  \nMotivated 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.  \nHowever, 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] .  \nThese considerations lead to the following research question:  \nRQ: How should touch actuation for social robots be designed to align with trauma-informed care principles?  \nTo ad","cbCaibcU6tv4ajQ2","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaibcU6tv4ajQ2","pdf",209494,1,5,"English","en",105,"# Introduction\n# Direct and Indirect Touch\n## Direct Touch\n## Indirect Touch","[{\"question\":\"What does the paper mean by trauma-informed touch design for social robots?\",\"answer\":\"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.\"},{\"question\":\"How are direct touch and indirect touch distinguished?\",\"answer\":\"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.\"},{\"question\":\"What are the three dimensions of the proposed design space for touch actuation?\",\"answer\":\"The design space is organized by actuation modality, the objective of the actuation, and the intended effect of the actuation.\"}]",1784177031,13,{"code":4,"msg":30,"data":31},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":32,"title":13,"keywords":33,"description":14,"schema_data":34,"social_meta":86,"head_meta":88,"extra_data":90,"updated_unix":27},"designing-touch-for-trauma-informed-social-robots-a-design-space-for-direct-and-indirect-actuation","",{"@graph":35,"@context":85},[36,53,68],{"@type":37,"itemListElement":38},"BreadcrumbList",[39,43,47,50],{"item":40,"name":41,"@type":42,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":44,"name":45,"@type":42,"position":46},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":48,"name":12,"@type":42,"position":49},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/",3,{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":42,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/designing-touch-for-trauma-informed-social-robots-a-design-space-for-direct-and-indirect-actuation/81916/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":40,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-19","2026-07-16",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71,77,81],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"What does the paper mean by trauma-informed touch design for social robots?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"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.","Answer",{"name":78,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":79},"How are direct touch and indirect touch distinguished?",{"text":80,"@type":76},"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.",{"name":82,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":83},"What are the three dimensions of the proposed design space for touch actuation?",{"text":84,"@type":76},"The design space is organized by actuation modality, the objective of the actuation, and the intended effect of the 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