Online kissing device for couples horrifies Chinese netizens
Do you want to send a kiss to your distant lover? A Chinese device with warm, flexible silicone “lips” appears to have the answer.
The device, touted as a way for estranged couples to share “real” physical intimacy, has drawn a lot of attention from Chinese social media users, who have reacted with curiosity and amazement.
Equipped with pressure sensors and actuators, the device would be able to mimic a real kiss by reproducing the pressure, movement and temperature of the user’s lips.
With the movement of the kiss, it can also transmit the sound made by the user.
But while many social media users found the device funny, others criticized it as “vulgar” and “creepy”. Some worry that minors will be able to buy and use it.
“I don’t understand (the device), but I’m completely shocked”said one of the key comments on Weibo.
On the Twitter-like platform, multiple hashtags related to the device have garnered hundreds of millions of views in the past week.
To send a kiss, users need to download a mobile app and plug the device into their phone’s charging port. After pairing with their partner in the app, couples can start a video call and kiss each other.
The invention was patented by the Changzhou Professional Institute of Mechatronics Technology, according to China’s state-run Global Times newspaper.
“During college, my girlfriend and I were in a long-distance relationship, so we only spoke on the phone. That’s where the inspiration for this device came from.”said Jiang Zhongli, the main inventor of the design, quoted by the Global Times.
According to the newspaper, Jiang had applied for a patent in 2019, but the patent expired in January 2023 and Jiang now hopes someone else can develop and perfect the concept.
A similar invention, the “Kissinger”, was brought to market in 2016 by the Imagineering Institute in Malaysia. However, in the form of a touch-sensitive silicone pad and not as realistic lips.
Although advertised for long-distance relationships, the Chinese device also allows users to anonymously pair up with strangers in the app’s “Kissing Square” feature. If two strangers meet and like each other, they can ask to exchange kisses.
Users can also ” download » her kisses in the app for others to download and experience.
On Taobao, China’s largest online shopping site, dozens of users have given feedback on the device, which costs 288 yuan ($41).
“My partner didn’t believe kissing (from a distance) was possible at first and her jaw dropped using it… It’s the best surprise I’ve ever had for her.”, commented one user.
“Thanks technology”, commented another.
What do you think?
