A team of scientists from Stanford University programmed a small, human-shaped robot to ask participants to touch numerous intimate areas of its body. The researchers found the physical connections elicited strong emotional responses in people.

The movie Wall-E, a film about love and loss in the robot world, tugged at many human heartstrings.
Researchers have now shown that directly interacting with the mechanical beings can give people the feels as well. 
A team of scientists from Stanford University programmed a small, human-shaped robot to ask participants to touch numerous intimate areas of its body. The researchers found the physical connections elicited strong emotional responses in people.
They also observed responses to contact with the personal areas were more intense than those invo