A lot has happened in the field of digitally mediated remote communication in recent years - online video meetings and video calls have become an integral part of most people's lives, even beyond the pandemic. However, current solutions are often very pragmatic and only offer a limited range of communication channels, especially voice and facial expressions. They are therefore well suited to work contexts, but are less suitable for enabling communication over distance in the private sphere, which creates a sense of connection and closeness and can also be emotionally fulfilling.

Together with our partners from the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), the Chair of Manufacturing Automation and Production Systems FAPS at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg and C&S Computer und Software GmbH, we will be developing a new type of communication medium (the eponymous ToCaros) over the next three years in a user-centred process. These ToCaros will use intelligent textiles and dielectric elastomer actuators to enable non-verbal communication over distance, such as the transmission of haptic stimuli or light signals. In addition to managing the research network, HFC is responsible for the engineering psychology support of the development process, ELSI analyses and the planning and implementation of user studies.