Tactile Telepresence for Isolated Patients

For isolated patients, such as COVID-19 patients in an intensive care unit, conventional video tools can provide a degree of visual telepresence. However, video alone offers, at best, an approximation of a "through a window" metaphor—remote visitors, such as loved ones, cannot touch the patient to provide reassurance. Here, we present preliminary work aimed at providing an isolated patient and remote visitors with audiovisual interactions that are augmented by mediated social touch—the perception of being touched for the isolated patient, and the perception of touching for the remote visitor. We developed a tactile telepresence system prototype that provides a remote visitor with a tablet-based, touch-video interface for conveying touch patterns on the forehead of an isolated patient. The isolated patient can see the remote visitor, see themselves with the touch patterns indicated on their forehead, and feel the touch patterns through a vibrotactile headband interface. We motivate the work, describe the system prototype, and present results from pilot studies investigating the technical feasibility of the system, along with the social and emotional affects of using the prototype system.