Siweifushe, a Chinese start-up, has invented and sold thousands of MUA, a remote kissing machine.

Zhao Jianbo, the inventor of MUA, spoke with Reuters about what inspired his invention on Thursday.

MUA can transmit the exact feeling of the lips when kissing with the help of motion sensors in a silicon replica and data transferred on a mobile phone application in real time.

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Jianbo told Reuters that he got the inspiration to invent MUA during the long and repeated COVID-19 lockdowns imposed in China in 2020. Chinese citizens faced some of the harshest lockdown orders around the world. People were sometimes not allowed to leave their apartments for months.

“I was in a relationship back then, but I couldn’t meet my girlfriend due to lockdowns,” Jianbo explained.

Jianbo, who was also a student at the Beijing Film Academy, studied the lack of intimacy and physical touch in video calls for his graduate project. Afterwards, he set up Siweifushe which released MUA on January 22. MUA sold at $38 per unit and saw over 3,000 purchases in two weeks. Jianbo told Reuters that his kissing machine had also received about 20,000 orders.

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MUA has realistic pursed silicon lips protruding from a dock for the smartphone. An app available on smartphones’ app stores pairs the kissing machines remotely. After activating MUA on the app, a kiss from one end is transmitted to the other end.

Jianbo has said that people can even submit and download kissing data using an accompanying app.

MUA does not have a tongue, and some reviews have complained about how to regulate the use of the kissing machine.

Some think MUA is a perverted product, while others believe it can contribute positively to feedback in long-distance romantic relationships.