Tokyo school takes Facebook Poking to a creepy new level (video)
![](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/1454eiaC35goO_euVR0zdA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTUxNA--/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/gyq0QyQ6ic2pcSTqvNW.rg--~B/aD0zMjE7dz02MDA7YXBwaWQ9eXRhY2h5b24-/https://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/05/university-of-electro-communication-tickling.jpg)
You've got to hand it to Tokyo's University of Electro-Communications, the school's researchers have presented some truly unique methods for interfacing with our electronics -- fake finger sliding, a head-mounted video display, a thing that makes it feel like you've got insects on your palm, and, of course, the old kissing machine. A few recent inventions have expanded the latter trend, giving us creative new ways of getting intimate with our machines. There's the tickle interface, for one, which beams images from a connected smartphone creating the illusion that the person on the other end is tickling your palm -- made all the more real by tactile vibration hooked up to the rear of the device. And then there's the older, oddly-named Sense-Roid, sort of a clunkier version of the Hug Shirt, which, among other things, lets you "hug yourself." Both are demonstrated in a pair of videos after the break. Whatever you do, don't miss the second one.