Touching a loved one can be so soothing and when you are going through tough times, a mere squeeze of hand could help uplift your mood. However, this changes when you are away from your loved ones. You can talk and now video chat, all thanks to technology, but there has been no such thing to mimic touch, well not until now. Meet Frebble that has been designed by Frederic Petrignani, an entrepreneur from Netherlands. The gadget is currently raising funds at Kickstarter.
Frebble relies on Bluetooth to connect to your system and in words of its manufacturers; ‘For a granddaughter calling grandma with special news, for a husband far away from a wife, for distant grown daughters who crave the comfort of their mother’s touch, for a best friend who wants to let her friend know it will all be ok, Frebble connects – as simply, subtly and as powerfully as though the person was right there with you. While there are many ways to see and hear your loved ones through the power of the internet, the tactile element has been missing – until now. With Frebble, you can cut through the distance and share that smallest gesture – the squeeze of the hand – that means so much.’
Moving on to the design of the gadget; it has been designed ergonomically so that it can fit easily and comfortably in the hand of the user and better stimulate the feeling of holding and squeezing other person’s hand. When you press your Frebble unit, the corresponding unit will apply pressure to the other intended receiver’s hand. This is true irrespective of the fact that where they are. The effect is achieved by making use of two pressure sensors on the front of the device that register the ‘squeeze’ and two vibration motors that are located on the side in order to make the sensation feel more realistic. The gadget also has an integrated bar known as squeeze bar in order to replicate the holding hands.
An LED will light up to indicate the connection status and also when you have got a squeeze waiting. Yup, you can send offline squeezes too folks. The gadget will be compatible with Skype, Hangout and other apps (iOS, Android) that are set to release in September along with Frebble. Each unit measures about 5” in length and comes equipped with a rechargeable Lithium Polymer battery that can survive for 4 hours if being used or more if on standby. The gadget is made from plastic while also imparting rubberized padded areas in order to impart easy gripping.
The gadget will be able to charge by employing a micro-USB cable and will be able to work with Google Chrome version 24 or higher and Firefox version 16 and higher. The gadget is available as a pair for a price of $89 on Kickstarter.