A new invention out of Simon Fraser University aims to help partners in long-distance relationships keep their grip on love.

Students studying in a lab at SFU鈥檚 School of Interactive Arts and Technology have built a pair of interconnected gloves call Flex-N-Feel.

When fingers flex in one glove, the actions are transmitted to a remote partner wearing the other. The glove鈥檚 tactile sensors allow the wearer to feel the movements.

The sensors are attached to a micro-controller to capture the flex actions and provide a value for each bend, transmitted to the 鈥榝eel鈥� glove using WiFi.

The sensors are also placed strategically on the palm side of the fingers in order to better feel the touch. A soft-switch on both gloves also allows either partner to initiate the touch.

鈥淯sers can make intimate gestures such as touching the face, holding hands, and giving a hug,鈥� says associate professor Carman Neustaedter. 鈥淭he act of bending or flexing one鈥檚 finger is a gentle and subtle way to mimic touch.鈥�

The gloves are currently a prototype and testing continues. While one set enables one-way remote touch between partners, Neustaedter says a second set could allow both to share touches at the same time.

鈥淟ong-distance relationships are more common today, but distance don鈥檛 have to mean missing out on having a physical presence and sharing space,鈥� says Neustaedter. 鈥淚f people can鈥檛 physically be together, we鈥檙e hoping to create the next best technological solutions."

Other projects in the works at the lab include a virtual reality video conferencing system that lets one 鈥渟ee through the eyes鈥� of a remote partner, and another invention, called Be With Me, that enables users to video-stream a remote partner鈥檚 activities to a long-distance partner at home.