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Introduced intimate phones that broadcast touch, moisture from a kiss and light breathing
Last reviewed: 30.06.2025
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German researcher Fabian Hemmert has shown prototypes of mobile devices that transmit not only speech, but also touch, moisture from a kiss, and light breathing.
According to Fabian Hemmert of the Berlin University of the Arts, telephone communication is used for two purposes. One is to transmit information, for which speech, text and video are excellent. The second, no less important, is to create a sense of closeness with a relative or friend. In the latter case, a series of devices developed by Mr. Hemmert, reminiscent of a Japanese kissing machine, are just what comes in handy.
One of the models is equipped with pressure sensors located on the sides of the gadget. By squeezing the phone in the hand, the user transmits a tactile signal to the person he is talking to. And the person feels the touch through a strip of elastic material placed on the palm.
Another sex phone has a moisture sensor on the screen and a wet sponge at the bottom. When one subscriber touches the screen with their lips, the other feels more or less moisture on their cheek, depending on the duration of the touch.
Finally, the third device helps to transmit the breathing of a loved one, whose head is very close to your ear or neck. Everything is simple here: the illusion is created by a stream of air coming out of the hole of the phone under pressure.
Mr. Hemmert's colleagues, who tried out the "intimofon" at the Mobile HCI 2011 conference (August 30 - September 2, Stockholm, Sweden), called them strange, unfamiliar, frightening and even disgusting. The inventor himself does not seem to take them too seriously. According to him, they are more like thoughts on what telecommunications technology might look like in the future.
Presentation of the idea at last year's TEDxBerlin technology, entertainment and design exhibition: