Japanese scientists have invented robotic hands that can hold hands with lonely men as they stroll along, creating the sensation of having a girlfriend by your side.
Not only has the motion of the hand been created to be realistic (it moves as a real girlfriend’s hand would as you both walked together), but according to cnet, the fingers clasp yours more tightly in response to your touch. In addition, a number of other features are being developed to more successfully create the illusion of having a real partner with you.
A cloth inside the hand emits the fragrance of a woman’s shampoo. Sounds of your virtual girlfriend’s steps and breathing, and the rustle of her clothes, play through an accompanying app on your smartphone. And if you want the warm hand to seem a little nervous (definitely a sign it likes you), you can even make it sweat. Just add a damp cloth between the heater and the “skin” and bits of moisture escape through small pores in the material.
Rather than being marketed as a crutch to ease the suffering for Incels, perhaps wisely, the scientists have stressed the potential of the girlfriend hand for those isolated from real partners by Covid.
Although it might be some time before we see full sex robots able to accompany us on romantic walks, the technology being developed in this hand could certainly make ‘smart sex doll’s more like true sex robots, and might have more immediate use as a haptic sex accessory in virtual reality.
