[imagesource:dreamstime]

Move over Mick Jagger, there are new rubber lips in town.

The very formal-sounding Changzhou Vocational Institute of Mechatronic Technology has patented a ‘kissing device’ that allows you to ‘kiss’ someone over the phone. The Remote Kiss is being advertised as a way for long-distance lovers to share ‘real intimacy’, but if we had to be honest it just looks weird.

Resembling an oversized asthma pump with warm, moving silicon “lips”, the Remote Kiss has understandably been met with equal amounts of fascination and shock.

Equipped with pressure sensors and actuators, the device is said to be able to mimic a real kiss by replicating the pressure, movement and temperature of a user’s lips.

Not weird enough? The device also allows the user to ‘hear’ the sound of your partner’s kiss, in other words it will let you know if your transmitted smooch is a ‘mmm’ or an ‘eeeuw’.

Technically speaking, the device works by downloading a mobile phone app and plugging the device into your phone’s charging port. After pairing with your partner in the app, you can then start a video call and transmit ‘replicas’ of your kisses to each other.

[imagesource:Taobao]

The lead designer, Jiang Zhongli, says that the inspiration for the invention came from his own long-distance relationship. The patent for the strange contraption expired in January of this year, but Zhongli says he hopes that the idea will be expanded further by other designers.

As expected, the ‘long distance lover’ has been met with curiosity and concern on Twitter with hashtags about the unit reaching hundreds of millions of views over the past week. Some commentators have expressed concern about the device falling into the hands of children.

The invention also allows for anonymous kisses in the form of a “kissing square”, where you can meet and lock lips with strangers. You can also ‘upload’ your kisses for other users to download and enjoy.

According to CNN, the units are priced at R750 and so far there has been a great deal of interest, as well as positive reviews. Going by the pictures alone, we are sure there are a few additional questions about its functionality, but at present, there is no tongue action available, so keep your pants on.

Another scary aspect of the Remote Kiss can perhaps be summed up with the words every child fears during Christmas time: Come and give your granny a kiss.

[source:cnn]