Hugvie is a vaguely human-shaped cushion from Japan with a robotic heart that pulses with emotion. Not sold yet? There’s a pocket for you to place your phone inside, and the vibrations of the robot sync to the voice of your loved ones when they call you. The pulse’s speed and strength is controlled by the tone of the caller’s voice, and it’s designed to make phone conversations a more intimate and physical affair. Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro of Osaka University based the shape of Hugvie on his Telenoid soft robot, but hopes to expand into more complex models that “really feels like a person while you’re hugging it.” For now, the Hugvie is available for ¥3,990 (about $50) from the Vstone robot shop.
Hugvie is a robotic cushion that adds physical sensation to your phone calls
Hugvie is a human-shaped cushion with a robotic heart that pulses to the voice of your loved ones when they call you.
Hugvie is a human-shaped cushion with a robotic heart that pulses to the voice of your loved ones when they call you.
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
Most Popular
Most Popular
- Trump says Sundar Pichai talked him out of renaming the Atlantic Ocean
- The iPhone Duo is a messy, expensive, good time
- Tesla driver using Full Self-Driving struck and killed a man crossing I-80
- Bill Gates says to prepare for 20 years of ‘tumultuous’ AI disruption
- PHP: The three letters that shut down sites all over the internet today
