Abstract
Soft robotics is gaining increasing attention in healthcare thanks to its compliance, safety, and ability to adapt to the human body. Most research so far has focused on materials, actuation, and control, while the design of how these systems interact closely with the body remains underexplored.
This contribution presents two design cases of soft robotic healthcare systems at different levels of bodily integration: an on-body soft-actuated smart garment for postural control and fall prevention in elderly users, and an in-body origami-inspired soft robotic system for portable pelvic rehabilitation in women. Using a human-centred, design-driven approach, it explores how softness, proximity to the body, and invasiveness affect interaction quality, user acceptance, and embodied experience. Comparing on-body and in-body applications, we highlight both common challenges and key differences in scale, interaction, safety, and user involvement. From this analysis, a set of design principles to guide the development of future soft robotic systems for intimate healthcare applications are derived, offering a complementary perspective to current robotics research.