Hugvie, the huggable robotic pillow-phone invented
by Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro, of Osaka University, has a heartbeat and
internal vibrators meant to make it seem more human-like as you put your
arm around it imagining it’s the person hundreds of miles away.
The concept of enhancing long-distance phone conversations between loved ones isn’t new. Kissinger, the long distance kiss messenger, and the kiss transmission device
invented by other Japanese researchers have also tried to make
long-distance conversations more personal by making the protagonists
feel closer to each other. Hugvie is basically a robotic pillow with a
human shape that acts as a port for your mobile phone. It’s got its own
heartbeat and internal vibrators that react faster and stronger,
depending on the tone of the conversation. It sounds like an interesting
device, but a lot of people find it just a little bit creepy.
Right now, the Hugvie isn’t the most advanced robot to come out of
Japan, but professor Ishiguro, who has made a name for himself by
creating human-like androids, believes he can take his Telenoid
technology further, by turning Hugvie into a robot with an internal
frame and lots more sensors and vibrators. This would make the
pillow-phone much more realistic and also end the hugs long distance;
when you hug the pillow, the Hugvie on the other end would move
accordingly. But even in the current state, the robot pillow is believed
to become a hit with families, lovers and elderly people taking to
far-away relatives.
I do understand the idea behind Hugvie, but I wouldn’t put my hands
around this creepy-looking pillow if you paid me. It looks too much like
something out of a Japanese horror movie for me to even go near it, so
for now I’ll just stick to Skype video calls, thank you very much.