Role-play-based hug-robot-mediated communication in promoting friendship among individuals with autism spectrum disorders

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often experience challenges in building friendships across the lifespan. To address the limitations of existing hug-based interventions, we developed Moffuly-MS, a tele-operated interactive hugging robot. In this study, participants were paired and alternated roles using Moffuly-MS; one person operated the robot to deliver a hug, while the other received it, and they took turns playing both roles. This study aimed to evaluate whether bidirectional haptic interaction via Moffuly-MS could improve mutual understanding and promote a sense of oneness. Twenty-four individuals (20 males and four females) participated over 6 consecutive days. In the with-hug condition, post-intervention scores significantly improved from baseline in both knowledge of partner (t (22) = 3.873, p = .005, r = .64) and sense of oneness (t (22) = 3.182, p = .013, r = .57). A Wilcoxon signed-rank test revealed that perceived relaxation in the hug condition was significantly higher than that in the without-hug condition (z = 2.377, p = 0.017, r = 0.49). The results indicated that participants demonstrated enhanced knowledge of their partner and a greater sense of oneness following the intervention. These findings suggest that our approach may promote social connectedness in individuals with ASD. Future research with larger, more diverse samples and longitudinal designs is needed to confirm and expand upon these results.