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Everyone needs a hug sometimes, right? C’mon, even you macho types can admit it. So when times get tough and you need that hug to get you going again, what if your loved ones are away or a random stranger won’t give you that hug? Friend, if this is you, then Singapore’s Mixed Reality Lab has an answer.

Researchers at the University of Singapore have created the Huggy Pajama: a system which they say promotes physical interaction between parents and children via remote communications. Got it? I didn’t either, until I realized that the Huggy Pajama is just a jacket with air pockets remotely controlled over the Internet. The person holding the remote can give you a “hug” — which makes those air pockets expand like a blood pressure cuff. Apparently the feeling resembles a hug — though I can’t say I’ve ever tried it.

Why should we care, you ask? In this day of dual income parents trotting the globe to make a buck, Huggy Pajama allows moms and dads to have some virtual physical contact with their little Janes and Johnnies — no matter how far apart they may be. With iPhones and Blackberries we never really leave work behind, so why should we leave our children wanting?

Of course if the adult entertainment industry gets a whiff of this, the technology could really take off — just like they did for that Interweb thingy. After all, audio-only toll calls to hot mamas can only go so far, right?