Zones of human touch

Machines have specific zones of human touch, and areas without. You can take any object from coffee cup to a pay phone and chart contact points. Yet touch can be distant, such as with virtual interfaces. We’re often not touching an actual machine, but rather a system of linkages (be it mechanical or electrical). Prescribing boundaries of connections is one way to define what is a ‘thing’ vs. boundless system.
Rama Chorpash