There really is an app or an accessory for everything — even people who are in long-distance relationships and wish they could more readily kiss their partner.
With this new kissing machine, they can. And yes, there's an app that they need to download from the App Store.
The device in question is called the MUA, a name that is apparently based on the sound people make when they blow a kiss. We're not sure about that one, but it's actually the least strange thing about the whole product.
Strap in. It gets stranger from here on out.
3,000 sold in two weeks
The Guardian and Reuters report that MUA was the brainchild of Beijing Film Academy student Zhao Jianbo who found that he missed being able to touch his partner during strict Chinese COVID-19 lockdowns.
“I was in a relationship back then, but I couldn’t meet my girlfriend due to lockdowns,” said the inventor. So he created a company called Siweifushe and built MUA. The device sells for 260 yuan ($38) and has proven so popular that the new company sold more than 3,000 devices in the first two weeks of availability. The total number of orders at that time was around 20,000, the report notes.
So what are we looking at here? Well, the MUA looks a bit like a car phone holder and you mount your iPhone on it in much the same way. Beneath the phone is the silicon lips — you can get different color MUA devices, but the lips are all the same unisex ones — and that's where the magic happens.
Thankfully the phone is a fair way away from the kissing action. You won't wind up rubbing your nose all over the best iPhone money can buy.
To use MUA, an app has to be downloaded and then paired with the machine. When they kiss it, MUA kisses back. And somewhat strangely, users can apparently download kissing data submitted by others.
MUA is unlikely to be something everyone needs, of course. But there's clearly a market for it and if it's helping people, all the better.
