Science and Technology Tech

Plug and kiss

Chinese start-up invents robotic lips for smartphone kisses

Inspired by the isolation experienced by couples during the harsh Chinese lockdowns, a young former film student has created a "prosthesis" for distant lovers

23/03/2023

Someone will be reminded of the sequence of Videodrome in which Max (James Woods) in the grip of hallucinations produced by the television signal voluptuously sinks his face into the screen of the device that has taken the shape and texture of Nicki's lips (Debbie Harry).

And perhaps Cronenberg's visions (until the last "Crimes of the future") with his body-machine hybrids in which technology interfaces and remotely controls bodily functions, are no stranger to Zhao Jianbo, a former film student, the man behind the invention of MUA, a silicone robotic device that allows people to kiss, despite being separated.

How it was born

The idea was born during the long and hard lockdown periods in the three years of the COVID-19 pandemic which, in the most serious phase, saw the Chinese authorities prohibit residents from leaving their apartments for months and months.

At the time, Zhao was a student at the Beijing Film Academy and decided to focus his graduation project on the lack of physical intimacy in video calls. After leaving university, he started a company that on January 22 of this year launched the first of these devices, priced at 260 yuan (about 35 euros).

"I was in a relationship, but I couldn't meet my girlfriend because of the restriction measures," the inventor said.

How does that work

The MUA – the onomatopoeia of the name is not accidental – remotely transmits users' kisses by sending the data collected through motion sensors hidden in the silicone lips, which move simultaneously during the reproduction of the kisses received.

To make the experience more realistic the device, available in different colors, but with the same unisex lips is connected to the charging port of the smartphone used for video calls, also captures and reproduces the sound and warms up slightly during the kiss. Distant lovers at this point have only to activate their lips through the app and, when he kisses them, they return the kiss.

Reactions

MUA has so far received mixed reviews: some users said it was intriguing, for others a perverse solution, still others said it made them feel uncomfortable.

Some comments on Chinese social media Weibo have expressed fears that the device and its app could be used to spread erotic content online, which is under strict control in China. The inventor said he wanted to stick to the rules, but admitted he couldn't do much to control how the device will be used.

Background

The idea of a "long-distance kiss" technology is not new. In 2011, researchers at the University of Electro-Communications in Tokyo invented a "kissing machine", and even the Imagineering Institute in Malaysia in 2016 presented a similar gadget with a not exactly erotic name: "Kissinger".