It’s time for the Gadget Helpline to blow the dust off it’s ‘ONLY IN JAPAN’ feature as another weird and wonderful idea has surfaced in mainstream news from the nation that loves it’s technology!
Those lonely Japanese have once again proven that you don’t need a real person to get a little affection out the Far East, and students from the University of Tsukuba have created another gadget offering an alternative to real-life lovin’s. It’s called the ‘girlfriend coat’ – and it actually gives hugs!
The girlfriend coat looks pretty standard but strap on the neon belt which features body gripping piping and that attaches to a winching device and it starts to look like a piece of industrial machinery. Once a lonesome subject is snuggly packed into the coat, the winch is used to comfortably and soothingly tighten its grip, simulating a surprise hug from behind from a virtual loved one.
By adding a headset which whispers sweet nothings in your ear, recipients of invisible girlfriend cuddles should really notice no difference from an actual embrace from an actual partner. Unless of course they accidentally crank it too high which we imagine would not be quite as romantic and actually quite painful!
Its creators say the intention of the girlfriend coat is to make the single men of Japan more comfortable with being alone and that they can have fulfilling lives outside of the internet.
The Land of the Rising Sun has also previously developed artificial affection in the form of the self-loving pillow called Sense-roid, Paro the cute baby seal that responds to petting and a not so cute touch responsive doll torso called the Hugvie!