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The Ethics of Digital Touch

Nicholas Barrow,Orestis Georgiou,Patrick Haggard

Published 2025 in IEEE Transactions on Haptics

ABSTRACT

Digital touch refers to haptic technologies that deliver somatic sensations primarily via cutaneous mechanoreceptors, with additional involvement of deeper receptors (e.g., muscles and joints). Like all emerging technologies, its benefits must be balanced against potential risks. We explore ethical concerns for future digital touch technologies by analysing the distinctive physiology and function of the human somatosensory system. Much current research on digital touch focuses on active touch. However, we argue that most pressing ethical concerns emerge with passive touch, where touch stimuli are controlled by external agents. First, somatosensation is “always on”. Haptic technologies such as alerting systems often make use of this sensory availability, although doing so potentially undermines our sensory autonomy—the right to control our own sensations. Second, users need transparency about who/what is touching them and why, necessitating clear consent mechanisms. Third, as touch directly connects us with our environment, haptics that alter this interaction pose significant epistemic challenges, potentially distorting a user's perception of reality. Our analysis raises critical questions about cultural norms, privacy of bodily sensation, bodily self-awareness, control, transparency, and epistemic procedures. We propose an ethical design framework for digital touch, comprising four simple questions to guide future development of digital touch systems.

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