Yet unnamed, the device looks like a box with a straw sticking out its top. It lets you move the straw with the tongue, and via a PC it can translate that same movement to a similar unit anywhere in the world, as long as it’s connected online.
Researchers at the Kajimoto Laboratory at the University of Electro-Communications in Japan say the two users, no matter where they are in the world, can feel each other straw movements, which can replicate a kiss.
Fast Company writes the researchers plan to fine-tune other elements of a liplock, including “sense of taste, the manner of breathing, and the moistness of the tongue.”
One of the researchers, Nobuhiru Takahashi, notes in a promotional video how the technology can be used by celebrities to give fans “virtual kisses”, an idea that has not been proposed before.
He also adds, “Right now the values are handled by one PC, but if a system is put together to handle the values over a network, then it would be easy for this operation to be conducted remotely.”
There aren’t any details on when this device would be mass-produced and released.
