Ever dreamed of being drawn close to a smiling Marilyn Monroe or feeling the muscles of fitness guru Billy Blanks? A Japanese firm on Wednesday unveiled a system that enables you to feel "the shape and softness" of three-dimensional images using a sensor-loaded glove.
The "tangible 3D" system creates graphics that seem to burst out of a screen and has a glove that allows users to "feel" them, according to NTT Comware, the software development unit of telecom giant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone.
Without any need for awkward 3D glasses, users could feel a far-away object as if it were right in front of them, NTT said at a virtual reality exhibition.
The developer was exploring commercial applications which could include video phones, said engineer Shiro Ozawa.
"You would be able to take the hand, or gently pat the head, of your beloved grandchild who lives away from you," he said.
If a person linked to the system moves in another place, his or her three-dimensional image also moves in real-time. The user would feel as if they were being pulled along if the image moves while grasping your hand.
The dead could also be "resurrected" by the system and museum visitors could "touch" precious exhibits sealed in showcases, the firm said.

And with this, my friends, the porn revolution has begun. No longer shall we be forced to rent all those expensive videotapes, or to bug our friends into lending us their precious wanking material - the future is upon us! I'm rendering a 3D shaped Hazuki-chan as we speak.