…and it was at that exact moment that Toby knew he would marry the display mannequin.
There’s a million ways to try and introduce Japan’s Sense-Roid HugBot, but I’m pretty sure that simply saying, “It’s a robot that hugs you back” is effective (and terrifying) enough. Designed by a lonely student at the University of Electro-Communications, Sense-Roid uses its own monitors and sensors to react when in close proximity to a user-worn tactile jacket. The jacket, outfitted with pager motors and inflatable actuators (no really), is designed to reciprocate the same level of hug pressure as the user; when you approach Sense-Roid and give ’em a big bear hug, your actuator jacket will inflate/vibrate to simulate that same bear hug, right back at you. So what does any of this mean for you and me? That’s right, now we can finally give ourselves hugs. Real hugs. None of that cheap wrap-my-own-arms-around-my-own-chest kind of squeeze, either. This is the stuff that Whitesnake sang about: love.
Look, unfortunately, I think it’d be best just to watch the video after the jump, to fully understand what the hell it is I’m talking about. It’s equally two-parts educational and creepy. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
[via PopSci]
[pics via DigInfo]