新加坡一些科学家目前正在努力寻觅通过互联网来传递触觉的特殊方法，他们已经发明了一种专门给小鸡穿的可振动的夹克衫，而接下来他们打算开发出一种能使父母在网络空间里拥抱自己子女的电子儿童睡衣。

    据路透社11月28日报道，新加坡南洋理工大学（NTU）的科研人员在28日接受该国《海峡时报》记者采访时表示，这种新型夹克不仅可以做为小鸡的服装，而且也适用于其它多种宠物。它可以通过无线电通讯装置接受来自于一台电脑的指令，其振动时所产生的效果会使这些动物感到自己正在享受主人亲切的爱抚。按照这则报道的说法，这些科研人员下一步将会运用同一理念来使人与人之间的相互拥抱能够在网络上得以传输。

    南洋理工大学副教授艾德里安·大卫·晁克指出：“现在，许多父母经常因为生意上的原因而外旅行，这对于留在家中的孩子来说，与大人的拥抱和接触在其成长过程中往往会起着非常重要的作用。”

    新加坡南洋理工大学目前正在加紧研制这种专为儿童设计的睡衣，人们可以通过互联网对它进行调节，使其在压力及温度上发生变化，从而令穿着者产生一种被抚摸的感觉。该报同时表示，如果父母也穿上类似睡衣的话，那么他们同样可以感受到来自于孩子们的拥抱。

    Singapore scientists looking for ways to transmit the sense of touch over the Internet have devised a vibration jacket for chickens and are thinking about electronic children's pyjamas for cyberspace hugs.

    A wireless jacket for chickens or other pets can be controlled with a computer and gives the animal the feeling of being touched by its owner, researchers at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) told Monday's edition of The Straits Times.

    The next step would be to use the same concept to transmit hugs over the Internet, it said.

    "These days, parents go on a lot of business trips, but with children, hugging and touching are very important," the paper quoted NTU Associate Professor Adrian David Cheok as saying.

    NTU is thinking of a pyjama suit for children, which would use the Internet to adjust changes in pressure and temperature to simulate the feeling of being hugged. Parents wearing a similar suit could be "hugged" back by their children, the paper said.