It has become easier for couples in long distance relationships to break away the physical barrier. Hooman Samani, a researcher specialising in artificial intelligence at the National University of Singapore’s Keio-NUS CUTE Centre has developed a system called Kissenger, a kiss messenger. Kissenger consists of a pair of robots that enable kisses to be transferred over a long distance. The robots come in the shape of a ball with oversized silicon lips. The two digitally connected artificial lips imitate and recreate the lip movement of both users in real time.
The website of Keio-NUS CUTE Centre describes it as, “Kissenger provides a novel hi-fidelity physical interface for transferring a remote and mediated kiss in real-time, facilitating intimate human tele-presence in the real and virtual worlds which can be integrated into modern mobile communication devices to bring new forms of human communication.”
Akshay Tomar, working with the hospitality sector, says that the company should have retailed this device before Valentine’s Day. “It makes for such a good Valentine’s Day gift,” says Akshay, who has been in a long-distance relationship with his Australia-based girlfriend for a year now. “Physical closeness doesn’t really matter much when you love a person but sometimes a real-like kiss isn’t a bad idea. I wouldn’t mind buying a pair of this device,” he says.
Management professional Abhishek Sinha says that the couple need to be really comfortable using a device like this. “You can be sure about the device only after using it,” says Abhishek.
Some think that such devices would be useful for those “desperate”. Surbhi Chopra, an undergraduate student in a long-distance relationship, says, “It’s not always necessary to be physically involved to show your affection. It’s our mutual decision to continue our relationship, even though we’re in separate cities. It’s an interesting invention though, but in practical life, it doesn’t sound useful.”