Tokyo: There is a cushion from Japan like a shape of human with a robotic heart that pulses with emotion.
Hugvie is a robot with a pocket for you to place your phone inside, and the vibrations of the robot sync to the voice of your loved ones when they call you.
The tone of the caller’s voice sets the speed of the pulse, and it’s designed to make phone conversations a more life-like and physical process.
Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro of Osaka University based the shape of Hugvie on his Telenoid soft robot, but hopes to expand into more complex models that “really feel like a person while you’re hugging it”.
The current price of the robotic cushion is ¥3,990 (about $50).
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