Mutsugoto/Pillow Talk, developed by Tomoko Hayashi, Stefan Agamanolis and Ciaran McGrath, allows distant partners to communicate through drawings made on their own bodies while laying in bed. Drawings created by one partner are transmitted to and revealed on the body of the other.

Each partner lays on their bed and wears a special ring that emits an infrared beacon, visible to a camera mounted above. A computer vision system tracks the movement of the ring and projects virtual pen strokes on the user’s body. The silhouette of the user is captured and serves as the “canvas” for this drawing. The completed drawing is transmitted to the remote bedroom where the same silhouette is projected on the bed. Special bed linens and curtains were crafted to enhance the mood of this romantic communication environment.

This is one of the fabulous projects developed at Media Lab Europe. Unfortualtely the research centre is about to close its doors forever.