From a HCI perspective, a device for remote communication between parent and child to recreate hug and touch is more than simply sensing the inputs and reproducing the outputs on the receiver.
The system can be considered as a device for the giver to show or display affect to the receiver. The idea of giving a hug is simply one instance of the affective spectrum that can be communicated.
Also, deep consideration needs to be given on whether the affect that the giver intends to show is received accurately by the receiver.
What does the giver have in mind when he/she intends to communicate a bear hug to the receiver?
How does the receiver interpret the feeling he/she gets? What is the picture that he/she recreates when he/she receives this hug?
Experiments need to be designed to attempt to answer the questions above. Incremental testing of different parts of the system should be done.
