We had met over an amazing summer, and kept up the long distance thing for awhile after she went back overseas. One day she told me how she wished that I could be beside her someway, somehow. Something clicked and I realized that there was really nothing that provided a tangible and huggable presence. I figured that there must be tons of people with this problem; couples, families, friends. Thus I set out to reinvent the teddy bear and Airbear was born. I call it a ‘magic pixel companion’.

Support the project, learn more, and get involved: http://www.loveairbear.com

Thanks so much for checking out our journey! ʕ/·ᴥ·ʔ/

More info: loveairbear.com

Send some love and they’ll get it in a huggable LED format.

First, we sketch!

Skillz incoming: my brother jumped onboard as soon as I told him the idea.

We (hilariously) decided to solder our own 8×8 matrix, it was fun.

Hey, not bad.

First Prototype!

We hooked up with a lovely artisanal plush maker the second go around.

Sewable electronics!! Didn’t work out but it was def cool.

A flexible matrix is where its at, super soft and totally seamless.

It’s a parts party!

Pretty, although the tie-dye doesn’t make for the most uniform colors.

The custom design has certainly.. evolved. What kind of plush would you want?

Yup, it totally works :)

Love is also looking out for one another. So we added a virtual pet that reminds you to take care and keep good habits.

But wait, there’s more! Check out the rest of the functionality we built into this teddy bear we call: Airbear.

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