Future touchscreens can touch you too, no kidding

2022-09-27 15:58:01

        You comfort a grieving friend online via chat, but you can't put your arms around their shoulders. You buy shoes at Zappos and compare all your favorite brands, but you can't make eye contact with the cashier or respond to their jokes. You get advice from a physical therapist online, but have no way of knowing if your story touched him. You're flirting online and you can't steal a kiss.

        The benefits of the Internet can be listed many more. But online, we put convenience first at the cost of face-to-face human interaction and the personal touch that comes with it.
        We are increasingly missing the experience of human contact, the most important manifestation of social stickiness. Even the tiniest social contact matters. Social engagement connects people to their communities, workplaces, and fosters feelings of gratitude, empathy, and trust. People treated mildly by restaurant servers tend to tip more. Doctors who interact with patients are believed to be more considerate, patients will be more relaxed, and medical outcomes will be better. Even a simple touch of the arm with a customer can make a store sell more.
        It's not just human touch that's missing online. Social scientists have found that how some items feel can greatly influence people's purchasing decisions, and consumers are more likely to choose stores that allow them to touch them. This effect is especially pronounced in products that come into direct contact with the body, such as shoes, bed sheets, clothing and cosmetics. And the benefits of touch aren't limited to something soft and silky. In fact, according to a recent study by marketing consultancy Millward Brown, 35% of consumers consider the feel of their phone more important than the look.
        While online sales continue to grow, products that ultimately touch the body will also be limited by people's desire to touch goods. The technology of simulating touch by machine is not yet popular, but there is reason to believe that this technology will be greatly developed in the near future. Engineers, such a