Another unique invention has emerged from Japan: the internet kissing machine.
The device is the first step in allowing two people to "French kiss" over the internet, according to its creators at Tokyo's Kajimoto Laboratory.
The lab, part of The University of Electro-Communications, posted a
video in which a researcher demonstrates the "Kiss Transmission Device," a motorized box with a plastic straw at the end.
In the video, Nobuhiro Takahashi, a graduate student and researcher at
the university, manipulates the plastic tube on one device with his
tongue. A program stores the movements on a computer and then transmits
them to another device, causing its tube to move - presumably in
someone else's mouth, according to CNN.
The device is meant to help lovers in long-distance relationships keep that romantic spark alive by transmitting the tactile sensation of kissing from one person to
another.
"We focus on kisses, since kisses are haptic communications on the
mouths that can express deep emotion," Takahashi said. "We considered that if we mutually
present the haptic sensation to each mouth, we can convey the expression
of emotion, deepen their relationship."
Though the lab is currently running both devices on the same computer, it says a
system could be set up to connect them via the Web, reports CNN.
Even better (or odder), "Kiss information" can be recorded and replayed, presumably meaning someone could save and share a "kiss" over and over.
"For
example, if you have a popular entertainer use this device and record
it, that could be hugely popular if you offer it to fans," Takahashi
says. Cue the squealing of thousands of girls around the world.
For those who think licking a tube doesn't exactly equate to a real-life, passionate kiss, the researchers assure they will be refining the device.
"The elements of a kiss include the sense of taste, the manner of breathing and the moistness of the tongue," Takahashi said, as reported by CNN. "If we can re-create all of those, I think it will be a really powerful device."