As digitalization permeates societal interactions to connect people over physical distances, mediated social touch (haptics in human-to-human interaction) remains overlooked despite its high potential in times of social divides and mobility. Disciplinary silos must be broken, and an intercultural approach is needed to integrate touch into digital global societies.
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Acknowledgements
The authors express gratitude to participants of the Japan–Germany Mediated Social Touch Workshop and Symposium for the stimulating discussion; N. Krämer for her help in the discussion of this commentary; and J. Wertel for the support creating the graphics.
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Barbareschi, G., Yamamura, S. Intrinsic interdisciplinary nature of mediated social touch research. Nat Rev Electr Eng 2, 517–518 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44287-025-00185-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44287-025-00185-3
