Valentine's Day is just around the corner. Whether you await the day with anticipation or curse the greeting card industry for perpetuating consumerism, chances are there's someone out there who expects you to express your love in a very material way -- possibly involving sparkling rocks. But why settle for the traditional route of jewelry, chocolates and electronic teddy bears that sing "Burning Love" at a pitch just inside the range of human hearing? Nothing really says "I love you" like some creative technology gifts.
Why not give your sweetheart a gift that lets you molest him or her from across the country? CuteCircuit's Hug Shirt prototype will let you do just that! The shirt has a collection of sensors placed in strategic spots inside the fabric. Next to the sensors are actuators that can create the sense of pressure on the person wearing the shirt. The shirt has a Bluetooth transceiver in it that transmits sense data to and from a Bluetooth-enabled phone running the HugMe software. With a pair of these shirts you can give yourself a hug and transmit it via your phone to your sweetheart.
Your sweetie will then experience an electronic "hug" as the actuators press against him or her -- you can watch a video of it here. What could go wrong?
Sadly, although CuteCircuit announced the Hug Shirt several years ago, I haven't been able to find it for sale anywhere. So maybe that idea isn't really viable. That's a pity -- I was really looking forward to the Hug Pants. Not to mention the resulting legal proceedings my wife would bring against me.
Sticking with the clothing theme, you can always head over to ThinkGeek store and buy a pair of 8-Bit Dynamic Life shirts. These shirts feature six hearts (inspired by such romantic masterpieces as the Legend of Zelda and Castlevania video games) lit by LEDs. When far apart, the pair of shirts will display two and a half hearts lit up, indicating the emptiness you feel inside when away from your true love. But as you near your beloved, the hearts on both shirts will begin to light up until all eight are sparkling as you enter "hugging distance." The shirts use radio frequencies to transmit and detect each other. This does mean that if you come into contact with anyone else wearing the same kind of shirt both sets of hearts will light up -- keep that in mind if you want to avoid awkward technologically inspired bouts of jealousy.
If all of that seems too cutesy for you, consider some other nontraditional gifts. You can get his and hers versions of everything from Nintendo Wii controllers to Toshiba NB 200 netbook computers. Note: By his and hers I really mean blue and pink. If you or your heart's desire are offended by gender-specific color schemes, skip it.
My advice for those shopping for gifts is to seek out something your significant other has already expressed an interest in. Whether that's a plush doll version of a microbe or an MP3 player loaded up with Tom Jones's greatest hits, the gesture will mean more if it has a personal connection. That's why I've bought my wife something I know she'll appreciate: a Sony PlayStation 3 Slim. It'll keep me off the streets and on the couch. I know she's going to love it!
Photo credits: Images from CuteCircuit and ThinkGeek
Tags: Electronics, Haptics, Inventions, LEDs, Sensors,
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