The “Hug me” project was done as part of the Interaction Group and Tal’s final project in the fashion design department. The starting point for this project was ASMR, a term used to describe a physical response characterized by tingling and usually caused by tactile and cognitive stimuli. From the thought that we live on the middle ground between the real and the virtual. Between the ability to touch and feel and the inability to do so, the materials we come into contact with lack texture more and more. Thus, the final project deals with questions about the human need for contact, interaction and the way our senses are changing as we transition to digital life.

Tal wanted to produce an item that promotes mutual contact, to produce some kind of dependent interaction. A hug is a source of basic touch- the “Hug me” jacket makes a connection between a massage chair and a Biker Jacket. When there is a hug between the wearer of the jacket and the hugger of the wearer, motors embedded in the jacket rotate and give a massage to the person hugging the wearer. A buffer is created between the hugger and the hugged. If the hugger enjoys the massage, then he hugs harder or for longer, which also gets the jacket wearer, a longer or stronger hug.