The Relational Pillow- hug your girlfriend asleep while being in a different room

I didn’t get to go the Gadget Show Live. If only there was a gadget which meant that I could share the emotions of my fellow bloggers while they squeeled over new products while I slaved away at my education…

If only I had one of The Fluid Interfaces Group’s Relational Pillows. Using Wi-Fi this cool little gadget transmits the sense of touch over long distances, allowing you to be in constant contact with others. Ok, so it seems to be designed with long distance lovers in mind, but sharing the gadget glee could also be considered relational I’m sure!

On a side note- what is it with gadget designers redesigning pillows recently?!

I’m not too clear on how this pillow works unfortunatly. The makers (Sajid Sadi, Pattie Maes and Amir Mikhak) say that it senses touch instruction and and acts as a personal communication aid between seperated people. *Shrugs* Make from that what you will. It has an LED smiley face, so I assume its a bit like the Tengu and it changes emotions at your end depending what the person at the other end does to it. (Yes, when I considered its for absent lovers I snickered a bit at the thought of it reacting to their touches too).

Whatever it does (and from looking at other sites I think I’ve got it fairly accurate- appologies if I’ve misunderstood!) its nice to see gadget designers considering gadgets for different lifestyles. There’re a lot of relationship aiding gadgets (stop giggling…) but few of them are designed with long distance couples in mind. Although the Relational Pillow is only at the demoable stage, if it ever goes into mass production it’d probably be a big hit for anyone who works away for long periods of time, or couples going to different universities, or even just for people who find it a bit hard to say ‘I Love You’. Ok, so everyone these days can work MSN or skype or some system, but there’s really no substitue for having something to just hold, and if it can’t be the person you love, then something that they’re controlling and interacting by could be the next best thing.

Ooh it went mushy for a moment there. I’ll try and find a flying car or something for my next update…

Find out more at the Fluid Interfaces Group website