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How To Hug a Chicken Via the Internet

Posted by timothy on from the anything-between-consenting-adult-beings dept.

the_newsbeagle writes "Adrian Cheok, a professor of electrical engineering in Japan, wants to invent a "multisensory Internet" that will transmit not just information, but also experiences. To usher in this new age, he started by building a haptic system that enabled him to send a hug to a chicken via the Internet. Next came the 'huggy pajama' project, which allowed distant parents to send their kid a goodnight squeeze. Lately he's begun working on sending a taste over the internet with his 'digital lollypop' project."

2 of 96 comments (clear)

  1. I have 2 backyard chickens by kawabago · · Score: 4, Informative

    i can just imagine the commotion a mechanical monster lumbering into the run to give them a hug. I wouldn't have eggs for days!

  2. Re:Japan is weird, did you know that? by KramberryKoncerto · · Score: 5, Informative
    It's actually because of the researcher's Australian upbringing. Quoted from here:

    Growing up in Adelaide, Australia, Cheok had often played with the chickens kept by his grandfather, so he decided to focus on poultry (rule one). He built haptic jackets for the chickens himself (rule two), embedding them with vibrating elements. Tinkering taught him just how difficult it is to produce a gentle, humanlike touch. “The system develops as you build it,” Cheok says. “I see research as iterative—you’re learning from what you’re making.”