OK so this one’s apparently been around for a little bit now but it’s still nevertheless interesting (and since it’s apparently hitting the streets soon we thought you might be interested in it anyhow). It’s called the “Hug Shirt” and it’s made by the folks at Cute Circuit. The concept is simple enough. The “Hug Shirt” is basically a shirt filled with wearable sensors and actuators. You pair the shirt with a Bluetooth and Java enabled mobile phone that’s also running the Hug Me Java software application. This whole process works when you have a friend who also happens to have a “Hug Shirt” and of course a compatible Bluetooth enabled mobile phone running the Java application. With everything in place, you simply hug yourself (with the shirt on) and virtually send the “hug” to your friend. The sensors in the shirt deliver data via Bluetooth to the mobile phone which is then sent to your friends mobile phone. Information includes hug pressure, skin temperature, heartbeat rate, time you are hugging for etc. Your friend will then receive the same “hug” you just gave yourself. Pretty neat idea.

[Check it out via Geekologie]

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