Hold Hands From a Distance With Frebble

One of the best things about relationships is holding hands. Whether it’s between a couple, a parent and child, a grandparent and grandchild, best friends… holding hands with someone you care about is amazing. But in today’s world, with work or military service or maybe just scheduling keeping us apart from the ones we love, many of us are missing out on the simple joy that is hand-holding.

Frebble wants to change that. In a nutshell, Frebble lets those far away from each other feel as if they are holding hands with their loved one. It’s a nice way of connecting, of letting them know you care, of feeling close. I can see this being useful for a parent traveling far from a child, for those separated due to military deployment, or (and this is what I immediately thought of) those touring with a show for weeks at a time away from home.

When two people are holding Frebble at the same time and one gives the unit a squeeze, the unit on the other end will transmit that squeeze to the other person using haptic technology. Of course, you’ll want to use it at the same time you’re talking to them or they won’t know to hold it (or you could set up a time when both of you will grab yours), but that can only make it better. If you’re also using Skype (or whatever video chat you prefer), imagine how wonderful it would be to be able to squeeze the hand of the person with whom you’re talking, be it good news or bad or just simple connection. Frebble will work with Google Chrome version 24 or higher or Firefox version 16 and higher, and they’re working on iOS and Android apps as well. You can either rely on your own messaging service, or you can always see who is online using the Frebble website.

Frebble is currently seeking funding on Kickstarter, where a pledge of at least $89.00 US will get you two Frebbles. Assuming their funding goal is met by the cutoff date of August 1st, they expect to ship the units in October.

Source: Technabob