Deusdado, LeonelAntunes, Alexandre Fernandes2024-05-312024-05-312024Deusdado, Leonel D.; Antunes, Alexandre F.J. (2024). Anatomy of a Hug in Virtual Reality. In 2023 International Conference on ENTERprise Information Systems (CENTERIS), 2023 International Conference on Project MANagement (ProjMAN), 2023 International Conference on Health and Social Care Information Systems and Technologies (HCist). Procedia Computer Science. ISSN 1877-0509. 239, p. 1180-1187.1877-0509http://hdl.handle.net/10198/29849Over time, there has been an increase in research on how to improve emotional state rehabilitation processes, and it is notable that the use of technology has had a positive result, with increasing accuracy. Serious Games (SG) for Virtual Reality (VR) are extremely beneficial in this regard, and the use of haptic devices as a tool for researchers and medical teams is increasing in popularity. The current study aims to conduct an initial investigation into the use of a haptic vest to see if haptic touch can aid in emotional conditioning, which may result in improved disease and phobia rehabilitation, and whether different interactions with virtual scenarios, such as a virtual hug, can increase immersiveness. The investigation seeks to discover the most effective ways to convey a virtual to physical hug using the haptic device. Previous research has revealed a high level of participant interest, as well as increased immersion in SGs realism, leading to additional research and implementation.engEmotional educationHaptic deviceVirtual emotionsVirtual hugVirtual touchconference paper10.1016/j.procs.2024.06.285