As part of the ToCaro project, an extensive user study was conducted in the first half of 2025. The aim of the ToCaro project is to develop so-called ToCaros – devices that enable people to communicate nonverbally over distance and create a sense of social closeness, even when they cannot see each other in person for extended periods of time.

To bring the idea of this novel technology to life and to make the experience of nonverbal communication across distance tangible, our partners at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) and the Chair of FAPS at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg developed the ToCaro TOUCHBOX cubes. These functional demonstrators allowed users to experience potential features of the future ToCaros firsthand.

Using these TOUCHBOX cubes and a dedicated study design created by HFC specifically for this purpose, we were able to gather valuable insights for the development of the final ToCaro demonstrators, which are now being built and will be tested in a long-term study starting early next year.

We would like to sincerely thank all participants who supported us in the ToCaro TOUCHBOX study.