A Virtual Kiss Is Just A Kiss

April 2, 2012 by Dave Haynes

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It reads all science fiction-y when you first look at this post out of Japan about an interactive poster that you can kiss and get a reaction from, but what’s going on isn’t actually all that magical or interesting.

As The Verge reports, “researchers at Keio University are working on a system that will allow passers-by to interact with said posters via an ultrasound sensor setup. The sensor will detect the motion of people in front of it, and display appropriate pictures in response — “appropriate” may not be the right word for everyone, though, as the main use case demonstrated by the researchers so far is the ability to “kiss” the idol on screen. After you’ve expressed your affection for the poster and moved your head away, the girl blushes with embarrassment, for example.”

So it has triggered content based on a motion sensor. Woohoo.

The researchers see an application for this in digital OOH advertising and speculate there is a market for this in being able to virtually plant a big wet one on a visual of a pop star.

We shall see. But from a technical perspective, this would take just about any company in the sign software business about five minutes to develop, and that includes rummaging around in a box for a spare sensor. And there’s that other thing — the concept is dumb-assed.