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Mutsugoto an aid for long-distance love affairs
Two years in development, Mutsugoto is part art and all romance. It's aimed at people in long-distance relationships and promises to give a bit more than an "I love you, Pooks" SMS before settling down to sleep. The creation of Tomoko Hayashi, Stefan Agamanolis, Matthew Karau, Mutsugoto consists of a computer vision system and a projector to draw light over the couple's bed and body as they lie in bed, yearning and dreaming of their better half.
Each partner wears a special ring that enables them to draw, using light, over their own, and their other half's bodies. A camera above the bed picks up the movements of the touch-activated ring as it passes over the body and transmits them to the computer system, which then converts the virtual pen strokes into light. The twinkling shots of light give each partner a hint where the other is "touching" them, while the strokes mirror the actual pressure. When the paths of light actually cross (think of when Venkman and Spengler cross the streams in Ghostbusters, but without the actual protonic reversal) then the light changes color.
Distance Lab, a technology lab run by one of the brains behind Mustugoto, is looking for three long-distance couples based in Scotland to test the system this summer. There's a very atmospheric video of the project in action below.
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Mutsugoto from Distance Lab on Vimeo.
By brenton8090 at 7:41 AM ON 04/21/09
Sooooo.... you just draw on a bed. And the other person sees your random scribbles, but can't actually see you in the bed. If you could see a picture of their body, then trace on that, it would maybe be kind of fun. But watching that video? Let me get ready for this one... ahem... Laaaame.
By hangover3000 at 8:23 AM ON 04/21/09
my techno new-agey self likes the idea, but wouldn't a laser in the eye be not as sexy as the music suggests?
By required at 2:47 PM ON 04/21/09
How about just mounting a camera and a projector on the ceiling or each room showing the other person. How creepy would that be?
By joe at 3:08 PM ON 04/21/09
Here goes another scam to make money. What's next, the erotic music??
This is becuase of money driven religious people, assuming science.
By curious7 at 4:47 PM ON 04/21/09
Interesting yeah, but if the Japanese spent half as much time actually sleeping with one another than they seem to spend creating and using self-gratification gizmos, they might not be experiencing their much-advertised population nosedive...
By Ryan at 6:41 PM ON 04/21/09
Joe, give us all a break. This is not the invention of "money-driven religious people," this is the invention of people with money. Granted, I don't think this invention is going to go too far; there are a few features I don't imagine we'll ever see in it, but you have to be kidding me - and everyone else viewing this page - if you think one of those planned features is a projector to draw light over the Holy Ghost. Get off the soap box.
PS: The minute and a half of black screen at the end FAILS. Hard.
By IsoTek at 8:35 PM ON 04/22/09
@Joe...Spare us Joe. This may not be good science from the politically correct "it's gonna revolutionize the world" POV, but it has nothing to do at all assuming science by "religious people with money". Your anti-religion diatribe may be short but its short sighted, banal and callow. You simply make these accusations without any evidence back up your claims. Not very scientific for someone so concerned that science is being trounced upon.
What we have here is an alternative form of communication. A communication really no different than telepresence or virtual communites. Is it a good use of the technology? Maybe, maybe not. The will of the people will decide.
By muss34 at 4:53 PM ON 04/23/09
For the woman the lights alone would be perfect .
But the men they would also need to see the other person .
By Long Distance Relationships at 4:12 AM ON 05/03/09
Great great great! Will appeal a lot to the members of http://www.waiit.com the Long Distance Relationships Community
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