Want to send your faraway lover a kiss? A Chinese contraption with warm, moving silicon “lips” appears to have just the answer.
想给远方的爱人一个吻吗？一种带有温暖的、可动的硅胶“嘴唇”的中国发明似乎给出了答案。
The device, advertised as a way to let long-distance couples share “real” physical intimacy, is causing a buzz among Chinese social media users, who have reacted with both intrigue and shock.
这款被宣传为让异地情侣分享“真实”身体亲密的设备，在中国社交媒体用户中引起了热议，他们的反应既好奇又震惊。
Equipped with pressure sensors and actuators, the device is said to be able to mimic a real kiss by replicating the pressure, movement and temperature of a user’s lips.
据称，该设备配备了压力传感器和驱动器，能够通过复制用户嘴唇的压力、运动和温度来模拟真实的接吻。
Along with the kissing motion, it can also transmit the sound the user makes.
除了接吻动作，它还能传递使用者发出的声音。
However, while many social media users saw a funny side to the device, others criticized it as “vulgar” and “creepy.” Some voiced concerns that minors could buy and use it.
然而，尽管许多社交媒体用户看到了这款设备有趣的一面，但也有人批评它“粗俗”、“令人毛骨悚然”。一些人表示担心未成年人可能会购买和使用它。
“I don’t understand (the device) but I’m utterly shocked,” said one top comment on Weibo.
微博上的一条热门评论说:“我搞不懂（这个设备），但我完全被惊住了。”
On the Twitter-like platform, several hashtags about the device have racked up hundreds of millions of views over the past week.
在这个类似推特的平台上，几个关于这款设备的话题标签在过去一周内获得了数亿次的阅读量。
To send a kiss, users need to download a mobile phone app and plug the device into their phone’s charging port.
要想送出一个吻，用户需要*载下**一个手机应用程序，并将该设备插入手机的充电口。
After pairing with their partners in the app, couples can start a video call and transmit replicas of their smooches to each other.
在应用程序中与伴侣配对后，情侣们可以开始视频通话，并将他们接吻的副本传递给对方。
According to China’s state-run Global Times, the invention has been patented by the Changzhou Vocational Institute of Mechatronic Technology.
据中国官方媒体《环球时报》报道，常州机电职业技术学院已经为这项发明申请了专利。
“In my university, I was in a long distance relationship with my girlfriend so we only had contact with each other through the phone.
“上大学的时候，我和女朋友是异地恋，所以我们只通过电话联系。
That’s where the inspiration of this device originated,” Jiang Zhongli, the leading inventor of the design, was cited as saying by the Global Times.
这就是这款设备的灵感来源，”该设计的主要发明者蒋忠利在接受《环球时报》采访时表示。
It said Jiang had applied for a patent in 2019 but the patent ended in January 2023 and Jiang now hoped someone else could expand on and perfect the design.
该公司表示，蒋忠利在2019年申请了专利，但该专利于2023年1月到期，蒋忠利现在希望其他人可以扩展和完善设计。
A similar invention, the “Kissinger,” was launched by the Imagineering Institute in Malaysia in 2016. But it came in the form of a touch-sensitive silicon pad, rather than realistic-looking lips.
2016年，马来西亚的幻想工程研究所推出了类似的发明“基辛吻”（编者注，这个词人名的话就是基辛格，但这里用了kiss这个词义）。但它采用的是触控式硅衬垫，而不是外观逼真的嘴唇。
While advertised for long-distance relationships, the Chinese device also allows users to pair up anonymously with strangers in the “kissing square” function of the app.
虽然这款中国设备为异地恋做了广告，但它也允许用户在应用程序的“接吻广场”功能中匿名与陌生人配对。
If two strangers match successfully and like each other, they can ask to exchange kisses.
如果两个陌生人配对成功并彼此喜欢，他们就可以要求交换亲吻。
Users can also “upload” their smooches in the app for others to download and experience.
用户还可以在应用程序中“上传”他们的亲吻，供其他人*载下**和体验。
On China’s largest online shopping site Taobao, dozens of users have shared their reviews of the device, which is priced at 288 yuan (US$41).
在中国最大的在线购物网站淘宝上，数十名用户分享了他们对这款售价288元的设备的评论。
“My partner didn’t believe that (remote) kissing could be achieved at first, so her jaw dropped when she used it …
一位网友评论道:“我的伴侣一开始不相信（远程）接吻可以实现，
This is the best surprise I have given her during our long-distance relationship,” one user commented.
所以当她用它的时候，她的下巴都掉下来了……这是我们异地恋期间我给她的最好的惊喜。”
“Thank you technology.”
“谢谢你，科技。”
Remark：外刊文章来源，CNN, 2023年2月25日, This Chinese kissing device lets you smooch over the internet