Japanese scientists develop robotic hand for lonely guys to hold on romantic walks

A research team at Gifu University has developed the My Girlfriend in Walk (sic), a robotic hand that the user can hold to replicate the experience of a romantic walk with a partner.

The artificial hand apparently even imitates the way a human appendage sweats and smells as well as feeling soft and warm.

Grip the hand and its built-in sensors detect the pressure of your grasp and will squeeze your hand back in reply. The hand can also work in tandem with the user’s smartphone to recognize whose hand it is holding.

Despite investing unknown amounts of time and yen in the development, the scientists decided to use wacky English translations for the marketing.

That said, the project — as yet at the prototype stage — has attracted some media attention in Japan.

With the dating scene so affected by the coronavirus, possibly never to recover quite how we knew it before, could this hand be the future savior of lonely guys?

To be honest, when we first heard about this robotic hand, we thought it sounded like a sex machine.

Since we know there are already awesome Japanese hand-shaped toys for providing release where it matters most: if you have never seen it, behold the Men’s SOM Hand Type Handjob Machine, which changes the way you experience jerking off.

Though much-mocked on social media since Japanese-language articles appeared about it, the robotic hand has some intriguing implications for high-tech adult toys and/or for virtual dating services.

Perhaps the Gifu University hand could be integrated with the Men’s SOM toy so that you get one hand jerking you off while another holds your hand. Scientists, if you’re reading this, please take note!