A remote kissing device that woks with a smartphone is available on the Chinese e-commerce platform Taobao for the equivalent of $38 per unit. Will buying two of them sustain a long-distance relationship?

The invention has been patented by the Changzhou Vocational Institute of Mechatronic Technology and was designed by a student there.

Quoted in the Chinese state news outlet Global Times, Jiang Zhongli explained:

"In my university, I was in a long distance relationship with my girlfriend so we only contact with each other through phone. That's where the inspiration of this device originated."

The device, which works by simply plugging into a phone and also via Bluetooth, has silicone "lips" which are intened to serve as "an inducing area for lovers to make the kiss". These kisses are "personal" in that the device  measures the temperature and length of the kiss, and transmits this to the person on the other end with the same device plugged into to their phone.

This tweet with a video clip showing the device in action came came from China in Pictures 

Remote kissing device for long-distance lovers, invented and patented by Chinese university student in Changzhou City.
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

— China in Pictures (@tongbingxue) February 22, 2023

A companion app also lets you record the kissing session and download the videoif you want to keep it as a memento. For the competitive, the app also compares the forced exerted on the devices of two people kissing virtually and shows the results in real time.

This isn't the first time we've reported on the use of tech to foster relationships when people are physically separated. In 2013 Microsoft patened an Internet-enabled pillow that will give you a hug sent across the Web, see Microsoft Patents Internet Hugs.

Another invention,this time from MIT, a jacket that inflated to hug" the wearer to signal a like on Facebook seems to have dropped off the radar. So to has a Google-initiative to add kisses to emails which we report in .

An attempt in 2016 to crowdfund Kissenger, claimed to be the first long-distance kissing device for a smartphone, failed to raise its target on Indegogo. Maybe its failure was because its video focused on  maintaining bonds between separated parents and children, rather than between students and lovers. 

China has enough pairs of separated teenagers for Zhongli's device to be a success. Whether it will make it into werstern makrkets, time will tell.

More Information

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