A new Chinese gizmo with warm, moving silicon lips allows the user to virtually kiss online.
It’s advertised as a way to let long-distance couples share “real” physical intimacy.
To send a kiss just;
- download a mobile phone app
- plug the device into your phone’s charging port
- pair with your partners in the app
- start a video call
- transmit kiss replicas to each other
Patented by the Changzhou Vocational Institute of Mechatronic Technology, the device features;
- pressure sensors and actuators
- replicates the pressure, movement & temperature of lips.
- transmits the sound of kissing
Some social media users in China have blasted it it as being “vulgar” and “creepy”.
One commenter on Weibo (China’s Twitter) said,
I don’t understand (the device) but I’m utterly shocked…”
Several hashtags about the device have racked up hundreds of millions of views over the past week. But not everyone was creeped out. Another Weibo user wrote,
My partner didn’t believe that (remote) kissing could be achieved at first, so her jaw dropped when she used it … This is the best surprise I have given her during our long-distance relationship.”
Jiang Zhongli, the leading inventor of the design, told the state-run Global Times,
In my university, I was in a long distance relationship with my girlfriend so we only had contact with each other through the phone. That’s where the inspiration of this device originated.”
A similar invention, the “Kissinger,” was launched by the Imagineering Institute in Malaysia in 2016. But it came in the form of a touch-sensitive silicon pad, rather than realistic-looking lips.
It’s marketed for long-distance relationships, the Chinese device also allows users to pair up anonymously with strangers in the “kissing square” function of the app. If strangers match successfully and like each other, they can ask to exchange kisses.
Users can also “upload” their smooches in the app for others to download and experience.
On China’s largest online shopping site Taobao, dozens of users have shared their reviews of the device, which is priced at about $40US.
Waiting for this to be abused by #GayTwitter in 3,2,1…
Remote kissing device for long-distance lovers, invented and patented by Chinese university student in Changzhou City.
— China in Pictures (@tongbingxue) February 22, 2023
The mouth-shaped module, served as an inducing area for lovers to make the kiss and then it can transfer kiss gesture to the “mouth” on the other side. pic.twitter.com/5i2ogMiUXe
(Photos, Weibo; via CNN)
