Theme: Technology

Project Description

This PhD project will investigate how soft wearable robotics can provide personalised tactile interventions to help regulate anxiety, combining programmable touch, physiological sensing and data-driven modelling. Although evidence suggests that touch can reduce anxiety, little is known about which soft robotics tactile inputs are most effective, how responses differ between individuals, or how interventions could be personalised in real time. To our knowledge, no previous research has combined programmable soft robotic wearable tactile stimulation with personalised physiological modelling to investigate anxiety regulation at the individual level.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of 137 studies found that touch interventions reduced state and trait anxiety, while highlighting variation in their effects. Previous work in soft robotics wearable devices demonstrated that a pneumatically actuated “calming hug” device could reduce anxiety, providing evidence for technology-mediated touch as a potential intervention. Building on these findings, the project will use Soma Skins, a modular soft robotics platform incorporating sensing and actuation, to investigate tactile modalities including pressure, vibration and temperature.

Working with people with lived experience of anxiety and healthcare professionals, the student will examine how factors such as intensity, timing, location and modality influence, perceived acceptability, subjective anxiety and physiological arousal. The resulting wearable device will integrate soft actuation with multimodal sensing, including heart-rate variability, movement and electrodermal activity. Interpretable computational models will then investigate how intervention characteristics, physiological state and context influence individual responses, addressing limitations identified in existing wearable device anxiety research.

The project will generate mechanistic insights into tactile anxiety regulation, design principles for acceptable and effective interventions, and personalised computational models capable of tailoring support to individual users. Collectively, these outputs will establish the scientific and technological foundation for future clinical trials of personalised soft robotic interventions for anxiety.