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EmbER: A System for Transfer of Interoceptive Sensations to Improve Social Perception

Remote social interactions suffer from a loss of nonverbal cues used to build affiliation and connection. We propose the use of novel sensory channels for sharing social cues from interoceptive data through wearable devices that simulate the breathing and heartbeat patterns of another person, known to be linked to emotional perception and affect. We conducted a study with 16 participants testing the sharing of either heart rate or breathing rate through haptic or audio sensations. Participants experienced these sensations while watching videos of narrators describing personal experiences. We assessed the subjects’ feelings of affiliation and synchrony toward a narrator through surveys, interviews, and correlated physiological data. Our findings show that sensory devices that transfer interoceptive sensations, especially those below the level of conscious perception, can have a positive impact on feelings of connectedness. This has implications for the application of physiological channels in remote interactions to improve social connection.