Technology & Daily Life in Japan II

Tecnología y vida diaria en Japón, Parte 2
Following a previous post on technology in daily life in Japan, I found another Japanese technological advance in robotics in a the video showed on a post of Paul Heney at the Engineering Exchange site. The researchers Takahashi N. and others at the University of Electro Communications have named it "Sense-Roid: Emotional Haptic Communication with Yourself". As seen in the video, the gadget can basically make you feel a hug given by yourself.
I know the idea is creepy, but let´s see how our opinion changes when those kind of devices will be integrated into your Yahoo Messenger, Skype, etc, as a form to fill the breach between families physically away due to job reasons, etc. For kids specially, this would mean something, given the importance of the family in the development of their psychics at early stages. Much to be discussed yet.