Simulated Kisses Are In Our Future
Gizmodo ran an interesting piece on a new device that was presented at the Unviersity of London's Second Conference on Love and Sex With Robots. (Yep, that event is really a thing). The Kissenger—not named after former president Nixon's right hand man—is a device that a person can use as an add-on to their smartphone to send a simulated robotic kiss to another person who also has the device wherever they are. Underneath a silicone pad are sensors that detect the users' lip motions and transmit them to the partners in the kiss' cellphones and then approximate the lip motions to the receivers.
Emma Yann Zhang created the device which is still being researched and she confirmed in an interview that the plan is for a human to eventually to not be able to feel the difference between a human kiss and a kiss given by one of the devices.
So yeah, the world of "Westworld" is apparently edging closer to us all in the new year. I do like the concept of this because if you are away from a loved one, being able to "kiss" them sounds lovely but there is a smidgen of a creepy factor to this device. Would you want a kiss delivered by one of these things? The name of the device definitely needs a re-do.