An overview of some of the, often custom build, apps and technologies we use in our research into remote touch and social thermoregulation at the VU Emotion Regulation Lab Amsterdam:

Social support is vital to human health. In daily life, intimate relations and a rich social life are amongst the most important contributors to personal health and well-being. To be more specific: a low degree social interaction has been shown to be as high a risk factor for early death as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

Here, I discuss how technology may change, augment and potentially even replace face to face social interaction – now and in the future, for better or for worse:

Presentation on social touch, technology and health – VU Amsterdam Emotion Regulation Lab – At the Nias, Wassenaar, 2015: