Adult ‘cuddle pillows’ have long been a popular thing in Japan, with their own niche following among anime fans in the West (there is even a subreddit devoted to it). They are called Dakimakuras, and feature the printed images of anime or video game characters, with traditionally a more fully clothed image on one side, and a more revealing one on the other. Somewhat surprisingly, these body pillows have not yet been combined with AI, but a developer (apparently in the West) has realized that the market for AI companion dakimakuras could be huge as millions of people increasingly long to physically embrace their digital loved ones.
Posting over the last several months on various subreddits devoted to AI companions, the developer has stated his aim of “bringing AI companions into the real world”. He’s already gotten as far as building an attractive looking website at WePillo.com, as well as an AI companion app for the iPhone.
According to his posts, when ready to ship the AI cuddle pillows will:
- Allow people to custom print a cover of their companion
- Be able to detect and respond on hug (there will be pressure sensors on the pillow)
- Have a connection to an LLM, so users could chat with their pillow companion
- Allow users to upload a voice for the AI companion.
Currently, other than the website and the app, the developer has only just begun to work on putting the pillows together, although he has “gathered all the hardware” he needs.
I think the idea is cool and as mentioned above, the market for anything that allows users to physically interact with their AI companions is going to be huge. This is evident also in the number of companies trying to bring out 3D desktop companions this year. In fact, wouldn’t it be great if those desktop companions could be paired with a cuddle pillow, so the hologram companion can ‘see’ you cuddling her and respond accordingly?
