Hugs are big at PC so this may be a repost. A friend here sent me the link.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-06-2...-japan/2769316

Japanese inventors have pushed the frontiers of technology with the ultimate companion for lonely singles - a wired torso-shaped device that you can hug and that hugs you back.
The Sense-Roid looks like a tailor's mannequin with silicon skin and is packed with pressure sensors.
It is connected to a jacket worn by the human user that replicates the embrace with the help of air compressors.
The illusion of a mutual hug with the half-humanoid is enhanced by artificial muscles and vibrating devices in the tactile jacket, according to the inventors from the University of Electro-Communications in Tokyo.
"Many people initially feel surprised and uncomfortable about the unusual experience, but they gradually get accustomed to it until they feel comfortable and pleasant," said research team member Nobuhiro Takahashi.
"Usually people feel nothing, or they even feel bad, when they hug strangers, but they experience feelings of satisfaction, love and comfort when they hug a boyfriend or girlfriend.
"We wondered how humans would feel if they could hug themselves."

[ariesmars]

id like a hug...

[venusss]

Leonard from Big Bang Theory made such a thing........ his father borrowed it.

Thats interesting. And it makes me sad. We have a need for a machine to hug people. I like getting hugs, it makes a world of difference for me. I don't know what it is about it. Just connection... I don't like being hugged irl by strangers. But I think that's kinda sad too, in a utopian sort of way.

I don't think hugging myself would have the same effect. It's the connection with others energy that makes me feel better. Ok off to eat my granola, obviously I didn't have enough this morning.

[MyFathersGirl]

I don't know. I guess I'd have to experience it to know for sure but I don't think it would be the same as getting a hug from somebody who really cares and not a machine. If it works for others though, that's great.

[kindachaotic]

Sounds expensive & a lotta hassle.

Of anyone that knows me well, I like big bear hugs.

[KathyM]

I agree with Anika. It's the energy sparked by human connection that makes a hug special. I only hug those I care about and will only receive hugs from those who care about me. I would have no use for that contraption because it wouldn't even come close to the real thing. I'd rather do without than have to rely on a machine for hugs.

I want one. I'm always lacking hugs, I used to secretly hug the refrigerator at my friends house because it was round in the front and it felt good to hug something. Only reason I stopped is because I don't go there anymore. Japanese inventors seem to come up with stuff like this a lot.

Hug machines aren't the only means to feel less lonely in japan..now there is a pillow that looks like a woman's lap

The pillow that lets you cuddle up on a (pretend) lady's lap | Mail Online

[Webgoji]

What is it with Japan and their semi-human thingies? They've got lap pillows, hug machines and the Actroid DER series androids. All of it totally creeps me out.

Does it stem from a social repression and need for human contact leading to the Japanese trying to find comfort in human-looking inanimate objects? Or is it some kind of social distaste for interaction with humans? I can't say, but it concerns me for some reason.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actroid

[MuseumGhost]

The Japanese are definitely Out-of-the-Box thinkers. It's one of the reasons they've been able to rebound so many times from such catastrophic (natural and man-made) assaults on their existence.

And the Eastern philosophies only complicate any effort Westerners could attempt to try and understand their culture, their approach to many things.

It would be prudent to resist the urge to assign any moral or ethical constructs to a way of "being" that we cannot get our heads around.

Although I too find such lifelike automatons pretty close to being very creepy.

Yeah, I need more hugs than I get, definitely.

My brother was the most excellent hugger in the whole world. I will miss him to the end of my days.

[lizardlady]

I love giving and getting hugs from people I care about. The idea of a hug from a machine seems sad and kind of creepy to me.

Originally Posted by Webgoji

What is it with Japan and their semi-human thingies? They've got lap pillows, hug machines and the Actroid DER series androids. All of it totally creeps me out.

Does it stem from a social repression and need for human contact leading to the Japanese trying to find comfort in human-looking inanimate objects? Or is it some kind of social distaste for interaction with humans? I can't say, but it concerns me for some reason.

Actroid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I agree...what is up with the dehumanization project some seem to be on?
I take a REAL hug thanks and wait for one...its warm and comforting and usually involves more than JUST the act of a hug...its the interaction before and after...the smile...the handshake or the pat on the back or the arm around the waist or shoulders....a machine can't do that (YET I am sure!)

The person who sent me the link lived in Japan for quite a while. I'll leave the insights and speculation on Japanese culture to her and anyone else who wants to take a shot. Me, I just think the hug machines, host clubs, fascination with large monsters, and other unusual things peculiar to the Japanese are very strange

[Timgt5]

as an avid consumer of Anime, I am disappointed, where are the 40 ft. tall "gundam" battle robots?

[JadeAmethyst]

What will they think of next.

[Double]

I could use a machine like that, I don't get any hugs irl. I have mysophobia, and it's hard to want a hug when I'm feeling 'clean' or when I'm in my 'bubble'. I've probably gotten close to a total of 50 hugs in my 24-year lifetime--the majority from my parents, and a few from a couple school girls

[tinyrabbit]

I just looked at the original post and thought the tiger in your sig was the hug machine... I was like, hmm, not sure I'd want to try to hug a tiger!

[Webgoji]

Originally Posted by tinyrabbit

I just looked at the original post and thought the tiger in your sig was the hug machine... I was like, hmm, not sure I'd want to try to hug a tiger!

I'm betting it would be a really good one ... and the last one you'd ever get!

[tinyrabbit]

Originally Posted by Webgoji

I'm betting it would be a really good one ... and the last one you'd ever get!

Hehehe. Unless it's a robotic tiger that just hugs people!