Sometimes all the coffee and chocolate in the world isn’t as effective a pick-me-up as a simple hug can be. That has to be what inspired Petri Eskelinen to design and build this wonderfully complicated wooden hugging machine that hugs you right back when it’s embraced.
The user simply needs to stand on a platform, grasp a pair of handles, and then really lean into the hug. As they do so the contraption’s mechanisms cause a pair of wooden articulated arms to return the favour. It’s all manually powered too, so you can hug it for as long as you have the energy.
It’s the perfect pick-me-up for the single, the lonely, or anyone working in an office environment where asking any of their coworkers for a hug would be just way too awkward.
[Petri Eskelinen via Notcot]