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About

Harpreet Sareen is a researcher at the forefront of haptic technology, affective computing, and human-robot interaction, with a particular focus on how touch can serve as a meaningful channel for emotional communication between humans and machines. His most influential work centers on the EmotiTactor and TactorBots projects, which explore how robotic touch can convey distinct emotions such as happiness, fear, and affection — drawing inspiration from the psychology of interpersonal touch and translating those principles into wearable and deployable haptic systems. TactorBots, his most-cited contribution with 34 citations, introduced a haptic design toolkit enabling out-of-lab exploration, democratizing access to emotional robotic touch research and bringing designers into the creative process. His HexTouch system extended this vision into virtual reality, proposing forearm-mounted haptic robots that complement companion agents with affective tactile feedback. Beyond haptics, Sareen ventures into speculative and hybrid design through projects like *Plantae Agrestis*, which bridges biological and electronic systems through cybernetic plant installations. Across his body of work, Sareen consistently challenges the boundaries of how technology mediates intimacy, presence, and emotional connection — making him a compelling voice in the future of embodied human-computer interaction.