Vest lets Facebook users hug from afar

The vest inflates to embrace wearers whenever Facebook friends "Like" items they post at the social network
A vest developed in Massachusetts Institute of Technology lets Facebook users hug one another no matter how far apart they are. The vest inflates to embrace wearers whenever Facebook friends "Like" items they post at the social network.

A vest developed in Massachusetts Institute of Technology lets Facebook users hug one another no matter how far apart they are.

A Like-A-Hug on display Friday at the website of designer Melissa Kit Chow was touted as "wearable social media" that inflates to embrace wearers whenever "Like" items they post at the social network.

Chow worked with Andy Payne and Phil Seaton in the MIT Media Lab to create the puffy black vests, according to her website.

Like-A-Hug lets hugs "be given via Facebook, bringing us closer together despite physical distance," Chow said in a post describing the vest.

And, provided the sender is also wearing Like-A-Hug, a recipient can return a hug by squeezing their own vest to deflate it.

Chow described herself as a graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Design who subtly skews everyday interactions with the environment for "a reawakening of a sensorial spacial experience."

(c) 2012 AFP

Citation: Vest lets Facebook users hug from afar (2012, October 5) retrieved 22 June 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2012-10-vest-facebook-users-afar.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

Explore further

Japan's 'Sense-Roid' replicates human hug

0 shares

Feedback to editors