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A robotic tongue for online kissing was developed as part of artist Ani Liu’s collaborative artwork Transposed Desires. It links a person’s tongue gestures to a CNC robotic tongue that imitates a remote participant’s tongue action in real time. The project is an artwork and prototype—not a verified product or consumer service—and its current operating or exhibition status is not established.
What is the robotic tongue for online kissing?
Transposed Desires is a tongue-based telepresence artwork by Ani Liu, made with classmates at MIT and inspired by the Machines That Make Project. Liu describes it as a gestural interface between a biological tongue and a CNC tongue. The idea is to transmit tongue gestures across distance as a form of mediated physical intimacy, rather than to provide a conventional video-call feature or a documented retail device.
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Liu summarized the concept as “telepresence for your tongue.” That phrase captures the artwork’s premise; it is not evidence of a currently available online-kissing service. Read Liu’s project description.
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In Liu’s description, a CNC robotic tongue is mounted on a custom-made delta bot. A participant uses tongue interaction on an iPad as input, and the robotic tongue is intended to mimic the remote participant’s tongue action in real time. The project page does not specify an iPad model, the sensing method, communications setup, detailed hardware specifications, or a parts list, so those details should not be inferred.
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What did the artist intend to explore?
Liu frames the work around virtuality, tangible longing, mediated pleasure, and haptic experience. She describes it as probing “the thresholds of mediated pleasure and synthetic satisfaction of virtual experiences.” These are the artist’s conceptual aims, not conclusions from a published user study or measured assessment of how participants experienced the device.
Is it available to buy or use today?
The accessible project page includes the historical note, “This project is still in progress. Come back in Spring of 2016 for the unveiling of the world’s first CNC tongue.” That dated note does not establish the work’s present status. The page does not confirm whether it is currently exhibited or operable, or whether it has been sold, licensed, or released for consumers. It provides no retail model, price, purchase route, or supported recommendation for an iPad or other accessory.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How is it different from other robotic-tongue research?
“Robotic tongue” also describes engineering systems built for purposes unrelated to remote intimacy. The following projects are distinct from Liu’s artwork and are not consumer alternatives:
| Project | Purpose and documented design | How it differs |
|---|---|---|
| Transposed Desires (Ani Liu) | Remote tongue interaction through a CNC tongue mounted on a custom delta bot, controlled by tongue input on an iPad; described as an artwork and telepresence concept. | Its subject is mediated intimacy and remote interaction. Project page. |
| Flexible pneumatic bending actuator (2020) | Research into a flexible pneumatic actuator for tongue-like deformation in a mechanical speech robot. | It addresses speech-related mechanical simulation, not online kissing. Journal article. |
| Wire-pulling mechanism with embedded soft tubes (2021) | An engineering study of a contractable and bendable mechanism for robotic-tongue deformation. | It studies deformation mechanisms and does not document Liu’s artwork. Journal article. |
| BabyBot robotic tongue (2025) | A soft robotic tongue used in research on infant-like feeding behaviors and developmental oral skills. | Its application is feeding and swallowing mechanics, not remote intimacy. npj Robotics paper. |
These projects show that robotic-tongue research spans different goals and mechanisms. Their existence does not establish a commercial version of Transposed Desires or make them interchangeable with it.
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