Last Updated on October 10, 2012 by New-Startups Team
The jacket designed by Melissa Chow syncs with your Facebook account and each time you receive a “like” the vest inflates feeling like a super hug. The Like-A-Hug jacket recreates that warm feeling we used to get when Facebook didn’t exist and liking something meant receiving the comfort of someone’s arms.
Once you put a post on your Facebook account and a friend clicks “like” a signal is sent to your phone, which then causes the jacket to take effect and inflate. The jacket or vest was designed by MIT student Melissa Chow and on her site she tells us:
“The project was done as an exercise and exploration in shape display. We came up with the concept over a casual conversation about long-distance relationships and the limitations of video chat interfaces like Skype,” she says.
“The concept of telepresence arose, and we toyed with the idea of receiving hugs via wireless technology. The result was Like-A-Hug.”
The idea of merging the virtual world with actual physical interactions is an interesting concept and one, dare we say, we “like”.
While the Like-A-Hug is an interesting art project, it begins to question our attachment to social media and could this actually be commercially viable product. Do we now cling for emotional physical connections through product in our digital media age? Maybe and maybe not, but the invention is a fun look at ways for us to bring friends closer to our own bodily lives.