LINZ, Austria - The Massage Me Jacket is a new type of video-game controller that is sure to get the average gamer's girlfriend more interested in her boyfriend's hobby.
Invented by two women from the Interface Culture Lab Institute of Media Studies in Kunstuniversitat, Linz, the controller is wired to a jacket that converts massaging actions into control signals that are read by the video game. The device, which is compatible with Sony PlayStation and PlayStation 2 game systems, also can be used with computers via a USB adapter.
According to the friends who invented the jacket, the idea came from a conversation in which they wondered how they could get free massages.
"It is not a commercial product, but an art project," co-inventor Hannah explained. "Massaging someone is usually a boring task, and if you're lucky, the most you'll get after a lot of pleading is a five-minute back rub. Then we thought of the potential of gamers, obsessed individuals in our midst whose fingers seem to contain an endless source of energy."
"For us, it was only logical to transfer the concept of massage into the gaming scenario in order to receive that long-desired, everlasting back massage," co-creator Mika added. "Neither of us are massage therapists, but Hannah has taken a sports-massage course. While developing the button arrangement, we considered massage techniques."
The Massage Me Jacket is worn by one person who can lie face-down or sit upright. The wearer's partner plays the video game by pushing buttons on the shoulders of the jacket, thus creating an interactive gaming experience for two.
"Pressure sensors embedded in the wearable interface sense the massage movements, which are interpreted and passed on as control signals to play existing games," the jacket's website explains. "Otherwise wasted button-pushing energy is transformed into a massage, and the addicted game player becomes an inexhaustible masseur."
With a website giving do-it-yourself instructions, anyone willing to invest the time and money can create a similar jacket.
"You can change the design and functions as you wish," Mika said. "We would like people to share their versions to show how the idea develops. The material costs add up to around 200 euro per jacket. The time invested in making it is priceless."
Hannah and Mika unveiled the Massage Me Jacket at an expo in Linz earlier this year and will exhibit their invention on Nov. 24 in Dresden, Germany, during the MB21 Festival.
Mika told AVN Novelty Business that she never thought of specifically targeting an adult-novelty market with the invention; she said she doesn't want to limit how it is presented.
"We believe it is up to the audience to decide on how to interpret the project," she said.
