Haptics

Haptics refers to the sense of touch (from Greek ἅπτω = "I fasten onto, I touch"). It is a form of nonverbal communication.

Haptic customs differ greatly throughout the world. In many Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America, people greet each other with one kiss on the cheek, for example in Argentina. In Spain, people greet each other with two kisses on the cheek. In the United States, the main form of greeting is shaking hands, though when greeting friends it is not uncommon for them to hug. In Colombia shaking hands or verbal greeting is also common and probably not hugging. In Peru when men greet men they usually do so shaking hands or with verbal greeting, otherwise, whenever a woman is involved greeting involves kissing in the cheek or verbal greeting. In Japan, people bow to each other in greeting and think it rude to touch.

Every country has a different perception of touch as communication.

Haptics may refer to:

• Haptic technology, technology that interfaces with the user through the sense of touch
• Haptic communication, the means by which people and other animals communicate via touching
• Haptic perception, the process of recognizing objects through touch
• Haptic poetry, a liminal art form combining characteristics of typography and sculpture

A similar term in use is:

• Hapticity, a term used to describe certain bonding arrangements in molecular chemistry