Physical Touch Research Articles

Impact of Behavioural Intention on E-Wallet Usage During Covid-19 Period: A Study from Sri Lanka

In recent years, there is a noticeable increase in cashless transactions due to financial technology development. With the enhancement of fin-tech products like e-wallet, most consumers shift from cash-based transactions to cashless. In particular, locked down Citizens of the country had no other choice than to stay at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka. The social distancing and avoidance of physical touch were the significant measures to escape from the COVID-19 virus. The use of digital transactions and electronic cash transfers was encouraged in every nook and corner of the country. The present empirical study aimed to investigate the significant predictors of behavioral intention on e-wallet usage during the COVID-19 period. This study adopted a practical research design to the online survey method to gather e-wallet users' perceptions in the study area by applying an extended technology acceptance model (TAM). The present study follows the quantitative approach to gathering data from 500 respondents using a Google Form. And collected data were analyzed using the regression model. The results indicate that Attitude, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived cost, perceived Risk, and COVID – 19 are the positive and significant predictors of e-wallet usage. In contrast, perceived usefulness, Subjective norms, and facilitating conditions do not significantly influence e-wallet usage. Further, e-wallets usage should be encouraged to avoid unnecessary visits to banks, implement social distancing, avoid physical touch while exchanging cash amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka and create a positive attitude among citizens of the country towards the adoption of a cashless economy. Finally, this study helps the digital marketplace's service providers understand the usefulness of using e-wallet for transaction purposes.

Covid 19 and Challenges in Higher Education: An Empirical Analysis

Over the years the global economy, including India, has undergone a profound change and observed a pioneer role of innovation and technology in every sector. Rapid technological dissemination has seen human or physical touch points being replaced by digital interface. With digitization happening everywhere, it becomes all the more important for the education sector to adapt it in order to keep pace with the challenging world. With the onset of the global pandemic of Covid-19, the only option left with the education sector is to switch to online classes for its smooth and continuous working. This research aims to investigate the challenges that are faced by the students and their level of satisfaction from these classes. The study is based on primary data collected from 700 students of various colleges across Universities in India. The study employs regression models, crosstabs, and various other descriptive statistics for analysis of the data. The findings of the study suggest that the students face a lot of glitches while learning from the online mode of education and would need time to adjust. The research also provides an insight on the scope and the future of online education.

Companion Animal Type and Level of Engagement Matter: A Mixed-Methods Study Examining Links between Companion Animal Guardianship, Loneliness and Well-Being during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

To reduce the spread of COVID-19, countries worldwide placed limitations on social interaction, which is anticipated to have severe psychological consequences. Although findings are inconsistent, prior research has suggested that companion animals may positively influence human well-being and reduce loneliness. In the context of COVID-19, this has important implications, as companion animal guardians may be less negatively affected by the pandemic. The primary aim of this research was to investigate the influence of companion animals on mental well-being and loneliness during the pandemic, with specific interest in the role of ornamental fishes. A mixed-methods study was conducted, using an international sample. Quantitative data were collected via an online survey (n = 1199) and analysed using robust hierarchical multiple regression analyses; the influence of level of engagement with companion animals was examined for dogs, cats and ornamental fishes. There was no evidence that companion animal guardianship was associated with loneliness and mental well-being during the pandemic but spending more time engaging physically or socially with dogs (and to a lesser extent cats) was generally associated with poorer outcomes. Qualitative data were collected through open-ended survey responses (n = 757) and semi-structured interviews (n = 25) and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Two themes were developed-one related to companion animals as providers of social and emotional support, and the other to companion animals as providers of purpose and perspective. Concerns regarding the impact of the pandemic on animal welfare were also identified. Compared to other animal types, more participants expressed indifference regarding the impact of their fishes on their well-being during the pandemic, possibly because fishes cannot provide comfort via physical touch. The findings of this study reflect the wider field of human-animal interaction; although qualitative data suggest guardians believe their companion animals are a positive influence in their lives, there is little convincing quantitative data to support these beliefs. This highlights the need to refine theories regarding which aspects of companion animal guardianship may influence human well-being; the findings from this research may be useful in the refinement of such theories.

P‐5.2: Virtual Touch Technology and LCM Screen Interaction System Design

With the development of science and technology, the progress of electronic control technology in the car, the human‐machine interaction control technology in the car has experienced the “physical knob button” to the physical touch control to the popular voice control technology, gesture suspension touch control technology, these have been in the car actual interaction cases. Among them, gesture suspension touch control technology is a more natural way of interaction, aiming to obtain a safer way of interaction in the driving environment. Through design verification, this paper builds an interactive design verification platform that can operate entity to simulate the interactive actions between the driver and the entertainment navigation system under the driving state.

Physical touch during father-infant interactions is associated with paternal oxytocin levels

IntroductionPhysical connection, particularly parent-to-infant touch, is critical for the well-being of infants and may support the development of the parent-infant bond. Physical touch has also been found to stimulate oxytocin levels. This study tested whether fathers' micro-coded touch behaviors during parent-child interaction predicted their subsequent oxytocin levels. We also compared two widely-used methods of oxytocin immunoassay that have been found to yield discrepant results in past studies. MethodsAmong 45 fathers and their six-month-old infants, we micro-coded paternal physical touch at 1/10 s intervals during a laboratory-based free-play interaction. Paternal oxytocin was measured via blood plasma and was processed both with and without the extraction step prior to immunoassay so that results from the two methods could be compared. ResultsUnextracted and extracted oxytocin were moderately correlated within our sample. Fathers who engaged in more playful proprioceptive touch showed higher levels of both unextracted and extracted oxytocin. Gentle affectionate touch and functional proprioceptive touch predicted higher unextracted but not extracted oxytocin levels. Fathers who did not engage in physical touch showed lower levels of both unextracted and extracted oxytocin. ConclusionResults are consistent with previous work showing that physical touch, particularly playful proprioceptive touch, is associated with higher oxytocin levels in fathers. These results replicate previous research using unextracted oxytocin measurement, and extend this work, showing that many but not all associations hold when using the more rigorous method of extraction when measuring oxytocin.

Self-Esteem and Binge Eating among Adolescent Boys and Girls: The Role of Body Disinvestment.

Although low self-esteem and body disinvestment have been recognized as potential risk factors for disordered eating, no studies have explored how these factors may work together to predict binge eating in adolescents. Therefore, we hypothesized a path model for girls and boys separately to investigate whether the body’s investment dimensions (feelings towards the body, physical touch, body care, body protection) mediate the relationship between self-esteem and binge eating, and age moderate such relationships. Participants were 1046 Italian students aged between 11 and 19 years (472 girls, Mage = 14.17; 574 boys, Mage = 14.60) screened through self-report measures. Both models showed an acceptable fit (males: χ2(22) = 30.441; RMSEA = 0.026; CFI = 0.99; TLI = 0.97; SRMR = 0.023; females: χ2(22) = 34.723; RMSEA = 0.35; CFI = 0.98; TLI = 0.95; SRMR = 0.029). Negative body feelings and reduced body protection fully mediated the relationship between self-esteem and binge eating, regardless of gender. Our findings highlight the importance of interventions promoting body emotional investment to reduce adolescents’ vulnerability to binge eating.

TeachBot: Towards teaching robotics fundamentals for human-robot collaboration at work

The shortage of skilled workers who can use robots is a crucial issue hampering the growth of manufacturing industries. We present a new type of workforce training system, TeachBot, in which a robotic instructor delivers a series of interactive lectures using graphics and physical demonstration of its arm movements. Furthermore, the TeachBot allows learners to physically interact with the robot. This new human-computer interface, integrating oral and graphical instructions with motion demonstration and physical touch, enables to create engaging training materials. Effective learning takes place when the learner simultaneously interacts with an embodiment of new knowledge. We apply this “Learning by Touching” methodology to teach basic concepts, e.g. how a shaft encoder and feedback control work. In a pilot randomized control test with a small number of human subjects, we find suggestive evidence that Learning by Touching enhances learning effectiveness in this robotic context for adult learners. Students whose learning experience included touching the robot as opposed to watching it delivers the lessons showed gains in their ability to integrate knowledge about robotics. The “touching” group showed statistically significant gains in self-efficacy, which is an important antecedent to further learning and successful use of new technologies, as well as gains in knowledge about robotic concepts that trend toward significance.

Jesus as News: Crises of Health and Overpopulation in Galilee

What made Jesus ‘news’? The key reason given in Mark and Matthew is that Jesus was an effective healer. In Q, likewise, Jesus fulfils John’s prediction of a Coming One who will baptize in Holy Spirit and fire by means of his healing mission. Luke complicates this slightly by emphasizing Jesus’ teaching on social justice, and John conceptualizes the healings as ‘signs’, but both also indicate that Jesus was news because he healed people. Thus, Galilee was in the grip of a chronic health crisis which people – both rich and poor – experienced as stress, and Jesus was news because he provided a solution. While being an exorcistic healer was not unusual, Jesus’ healing apparently was, both in its effectiveness and in its approach, involving physical touch. We now know that affective touch has a positive effect on the immune system. Disease crises in Galilee can be linked to the great density of its population, associated with widespread rural poverty and environmental degradation. Previous assessments of population in Galilee have hitherto been much too small.

The Mediating Role of Five Love Languages between Differentiation of Self and Marital Satisfaction

The aim of this study was to investigate the mediating role of the components of love language on differentiation of self and marital satisfaction. The sample comprised of 161 Turkish married heterosexual couples. The Common Fate Model (CFM) analysis revealed that four of the five components of love language had a mediating role. Differentiation of self positively predicted marital satisfaction and indirectly affected marital satisfaction through physical touch, words of affirmation, quality time, and receiving gifts. The findings were discussed for family therapists and cross-cultural researchers aiming to promote better marital satisfaction based on differentiation of self and love language.

IoTouch: whole-body tactile sensing technology toward the tele-touch

In the era of social distancing, humans tend to interact more with digital edges/devices and robotic avatar. Users mostly interact with cyber-physical systems through audiovisual devices, while tangible interfaces are limited to touch panels. Touch perception not only brings sense of physical contact, texture; but also conveys the intention and emotion of users. Here, we introduce a novel soft tangible device, called IoTouch, as a combination of soft robotics and deep learning, that can act as both robotic skin or haptic sensing interface. The technique aims to implementation of touch sensing with a vision-based approach. We showcase on barrel shape (ellipsoid with two flattened ends) of the IoTouch, where a dataset of tactile images was collected through an autonomous process, in order to train a network for recognition of physical contact states (contact location, contact depth). A Finite Element Method model of the barrel skin was also setup for data acquisition of skin's deformation. The proposed method can detect multiple contacts simultaneously on the entire area of the barrel skin. Obtained result promises a platform for creation of robotic avatars that can sense diverse states of physical touch, through which the users' experience and communication of haptics can be enhanced.

Sexual Violence and the Coach-Athlete Relationship-a Scoping Review From Sport Sociological and Sport Psychological Perspectives.

Sexual violence against athletes in elite and leisure sport has become of growing interest in recent years. In line with social media initiatives such as #SportToo and #CoachDontTouchMe and a rise in general media coverage, research in this field indicates an urgent need for action. These recent developments occasionally have led to no-touch policies, which may result in moral panic, uncertainty, and fear of unjustified suspicion among coaches. However, the role of closeness and distance in the development of sexual violence within the coach–athlete relationship has not yet been researched systematically. In this scoping review, the authors focus on the coach–athlete relationship, particularly its predispositions to sexual violence and how to prevent abusive relationships. Some characteristics typical of elite sport may predispose coaches to commit abuse, such as gender and power relations, the need for physical touch, hierarchical structures in sport, and trust and closeness between coaches and athletes. This scoping review follows an interdisciplinary approach combining sociological and psychological perspectives. It comprises 25 publications in English and German published from 2000 to 2019. The literature review highlights that closeness, power, blurred boundaries, and ambiguous roles are areas that seem to be crucial to the analysis of the coach–athlete relationship from both sociological and psychological perspectives.

“I Can’t Give Up When I Have Them to Care for”: People’s Experiences of Pets and Their Mental Health

ABSTRACT Contact with animals has been increasingly recognized as being beneficial to mental health and wellbeing due to their therapeutic function, with “animal-assisted therapies” gaining in popularity. There is less research exploring how companion animals within the home impact upon mental health and wellbeing. This qualitative study explores people’s experiences of the role of their pets in reducing or exacerbating their mental health symptomology and general wellbeing. One hundred and nineteen adults, 41 with a diagnosed mental health condition, and 70 recently struggling with their mental health, completed an online survey with open and closed questions to explore their experiences of their pets and mental health. Through thematic analysis, seven key themes were identified. Six themes encompassed benefits of pets; increased hedonic tone; increased motivation and behavioral activation; reduced anxiety symptoms and panic attacks; increased social connections and reduced loneliness; reduced risk behaviors; and coping and aiding the recovery process. One theme encompassed negative impacts: increased negative feelings and emotional strain. Notably, pets reduced urges of self-harm, and prevented onsets of panic attacks and suicide attempts. Both direct mechanisms (e.g., lowering physiological anxiety through physical touch) and indirect mechanisms (e.g., elevating mood through humor, increased mindfulness and disrupting rumination) were identified. These findings encapsulate the complex roles that pets can play in people’s mental health and wellbeing, and highlights that even when the human–pet relationship is regarded positively, pets cannot “treat” mental health difficulties, and should not be viewed as such. Mental health practitioners should be aware and considerate of the importance of pets in people’s lives as well as individual differences in the potential capability of pets to both reduce or exacerbate mental health symptomology and overall wellbeing.

Bringing full-featured mobile phone interaction into virtual reality

Virtual Reality (VR) Head-Mounted Display (HMD) technology immerses a user in a computer generated virtual environment. However, a VR HMD also blocks the users’ view of their physical surroundings, and so prevents them from using their mobile phones in a natural manner. In this paper, we present a novel Augmented Virtuality (AV) interface that enables people to naturally interact with a mobile phone in real time in a virtual environment. The system allows the user to wear a VR HMD while seeing his/her 3D hands captured by a depth sensor and rendered in different styles, and enables the user to operate a virtual mobile phone aligned with their real phone. We conducted a formal user study to compare the AV interface with physical touch interaction on user experience in five mobile applications. Participants reported that our system brought the real mobile phone into the virtual world. Unfortunately, the experiment results indicated that using a phone with our AV interfaces in VR was more difficult than the regular smartphone touch interaction, with increased workload and lower system usability, especially for a typing task. We ran a follow-up study to compare different hand visualizations for text typing using the AV interface. Participants felt that a skin-colored hand visualization method provided better usability and immersiveness than other hand rendering styles.

PENYULUHAN VIRTUAL TENTANG MANFAAT PIJAT BAYI TERHADAP TUMBUH KEMBANG KEPADA IBU YANG MEMILIKI BAYI USIA 6 BULAN -1 TAHUN

Touch therapy or massage is a complex form of therapy which involves physical and emotional touch. Massage can be applied to all ages, including babies. Baby massage is a form of stimulation in the form of touch aimed at the baby's growth and development. Baby massage can increase the quality and quantity of baby sleep so that it stimulates the hormone endorphins to reduce pain and will make the baby calm, ultimately reducing the frequency of baby crying. The problem that occurs is that many mothers do not understand what the benefits of baby massage are and how to do it. An alternative solution to the problem that can be done is by providing counseling which is done virtually during the Covid-19 pandemic. The service was carried out for mothers who have babies aged 6 months-1 year in the work area of ​​the Biru-Biru Puskesmas as many as 32 people. The community service implementation team provided counseling virtually for 2 days with prepared materials, after which measure the mother's knowledge before and after counseling. The results showed that the counseling went well, and there was an increase in the mother's knowledge about the benefits of baby massage for baby growth and development, and mothers were able to massage their babies to their respective babies.

“Bubbling” the Fourth Age in the Time of COVID-19

“Bubbling” the Fourth Age in the Time of COVID-19

Virtual Reality (VR) Applications in Cardiology: A Review

Virtual reality (VR) has applications in cardiology to create enhancement, thereby improving the quality of associated planning, treatment and surgery. The need is to study different applications of this technology in the field of cardiology. We have studied research papers on VR and its applications in cardiology through a detailed bibliometric analysis. The study identified five significant steps for proper implementation of this technology in cardiology. Some challenges are to be undertaken by using this technology, and they can provide some benefits; thus, authors contemplate extensive research and development. This study also identifies 10 major VR technology applications in cardiology and provided a brief description. This innovative technology helps a heart surgeon to perform complex heart surgery effectively. Thus, VR applications have the potential for improving decision-making, which helps save human life. VR plays a significant role in the development of a surgical procedure. This technology undertakes 3D heart model information in full colour, which helps to analyze the overall heart vane, blockage and blood flow. With the help of this digital technology, a surgeon can improve the accuracy of heart surgery, and he can simulate the surgery. A surgeon can undertake surgery in a virtual environment on a virtual patient. The unique purpose of this technology is to practice pre-operatively on the specific circumstance. A cardiologist can also check the proper status of inner and outer heart wall layer. Thus, by using this 3D information, the surgeon can now interact with heart data/information without any physical touch. This technology opens a new opportunity to improve the heart surgery and development in cardiovascular treatment to improve patient outcome.

Effects of handling during experimental procedures on stress indices in the green shore crab, Carcinus maenas (L)

ABSTRACT Stress due to handling is often an unavoidable feature of experimental investigations. In some cases, appropriate settling times are not considered, and as such, physiological responses caused by handling may become additive with those of experimental treatments. This study investigated the effect of different handling procedures on the acute physiological responses of green shore crab (Carcinus maenas). Handling, such as would occur during transport around a research facility or transfer during experimental procedure, was designated as light (10 min emersion) or severe (10 min emersion with shaking). Oxygen consumption (MO2) and haemolymph glucose and haemolymph L-lactate concentrations were elevated post-handling, the magnitude of the change related to the severity of handling stress. Glucose and L-lactate concentrations peaked within 1 h and returned to basal levels within 6 h, but MO2 remained elevated for 10 h, reflecting the additional energy required to oxidize L-lactate and replenish energy reserves. Differences between light and severe handling treatments showed that vibration (shaking) was a major contributor to the stress response, rather than the experimental emersion. This was confirmed in a second experiment where crabs were handled without emersion, and MO2 remained elevated for 14 h. In this experiment, the most pronounced increase in MO2 and metabolic parameters occurred in crabs that were physically touched and moved rapidly from the holding to experimental tanks. Here the touch, as well as vibration and visual stimuli, provoked a fight-flight response in the crabs. Stress responses were also evident in crabs gently transferred by containers. The fact that transferring crabs with no physical touching and minimal visual and vibrational stimuli still evoked a stress response, albeit less pronounced, supports a recommendation that crustaceans should be left to settle in the apparatus for at least 12 h after handling before experimental procedures are initiated.

The adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the labor market in Cameroon.

This paper analyzes the impacts of the Covid‐19 pandemic on employment in Cameroon. Using data collected from a rapid survey led by the National Institute of Statistics, on a sample of 1,310 respondents from April to May 2020. These data show that a large proportion of workers suffered a wage cut (60.93%) and temporary job suspension (31.6%), and the smallest proportion suffered job loss (7.47%). The results of the logistic regression show that lower frequency of outgoings to work, difficulties in accessing transport services and the loss of customer confidence have a strong negative impact on both wage cuts and temporary suspensions of work. The closure (total or partial) of activities has increasingly enhanced job loss. Further, the log of odds show that workers in private firms are more affected than their peers in public firms, and the middle‐aged are the most affected group. So, it is recommended to revamp the old methods of activity into digital innovation that enables less physical touch and find an appropriate way to support those who have lost their jobs during this Covid‐19 pandemic, particularly in the private sector.

Pandemic Takes Toll on Those Who Grieve

Pandemic Takes Toll on Those Who Grieve

A Qualitative Study of Primary Care Physicians' Experiences With Telemedicine During COVID-19.

Primary care practices rapidly adopted telemedicine visits because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but information on physician perspectives about these visits is lacking. Fifteen semistructured interviews with practicing primary care physicians and physicians-in-training from a Southern California academic health system and group-model health maintenance organization were conducted to assess physician perspectives regarding the benefits and challenges of telemedicine. Physicians indicated that telemedicine improved patient access to care by providing greater convenience, although some expressed concern that certain groups of vulnerable patients were unable to navigate or did not possess the technology required to participate in telemedicine visits. Physicians noted that telemedicine visits offered more time for patient counseling, opportunities for better medication reconciliations, and the ability to see and evaluate patient home environments and connect with patient families. Challenges existed when visits required a physical examination. Physicians were very concerned about the loss of personal connections and touch, which they believed diminished expected rituals that typically strengthen physician-patient relationships. Physicians also observed that careful consideration to physician workflows may be needed to avoid physician burnout. Physicians reported that telemedicine visits offer new opportunities to improve the quality of patient care but noted changes to their interactions with patients. Many of these changes are positive, but it remains to be seen whether others such as lack of physical examination and loss of physical presence and touch adversely influence provider-patient communication, patient willingness to disclose concerns that may affect their care, and, ultimately, patient health outcomes.