The Dutch Touch Society held its 9th meeting on 7 November 2025 in Utrecht, generously supported by Gijs Huisman. The University of Utrecht kindly hosted the event and provided the venue.

The meeting opened with an open-space discussion, during which participants explored new directions for continuing joint research projects within the community. The programme also included a haptonomy session, several demo sessions, and a series of stimulating talks from both industry and academia.

• Reinoud Kaldewij presented his VENI project on social touch and its mechanisms
• Vertelknuffel shared the development journey of a hugging robot designed to strengthen relationships between children and their parents.
• Albert Ali Salah delivered a talk on automatic touch recognition in video, showcasing inspiring tools and possibilities for future research.

The meeting again demonstrated the Society’s hallmark: a warm, collaborative, and inspiring community atmosphere. Building on this momentum, members will continue their joint collaborations, with particular focus on advancing the Low Lands study and developing a coherent Dutch Touch research programme for the coming years.