My son is Autistic and I think that many people seeing this think of hugs as being interpersonal or emotional or warm, etc. only. However, Autistics kids and adults need certain types of sensory stinuli to counter other stimuli and this is where the non-emotional, non-interperosnal hug machine comes in. They literally just need the pressure, which results in specific internal hypersensory responses which, in turn, help them manage other hypersensory overloads. There are many responses like this in our own world that we ignore or are not consciously aware of because we are not hyper sensory. The only example I can think of, of the top of my head, is how many people are bothered by the labels on clothes. Now that "bother" would not be questioned by anyone and many people cut the tags of just because of the irritant. Now think about the same tag causing irritation at 1000 times that felt by you. That is why the Autistic childs reaction is so much more profound.

Paul