No surprise. Researchers at the Kajimoto Laboratory at the University of Electro-Communications in Japan are working on a machine that can replicate a kiss from the Internet.

How does it work? This article from FastCompany details how it can be done. Just approach the box, move the straw with your tongue and your partner gets a straw moving in their mouth the same way. Now, describing it is not really visually satisfying so check out this video so you can fully grasp the concept .

One of the researchers, Nobuhiru Takahashi, notes that “the elements of a kiss include the sense of taste, the manner of breathing, and the moistness of the tongue.” Now that they’ve got tongue movement down, they’re working on those.

They project that a famous musician or movie star could record kisses, and then fans could kiss their own boxes: Imagine young girls (or boys!) everywhere staying up late making out with a program of Justin Bieber’s kisses. It’s a million-dollar idea.

Ha! ha! Just how bizarre do people invent things these days. But really … it looks promising. What do you think?