One way to calm a crying baby or a whining puppy is to wrap an alarm clock in a blanket and let the seemingly inconsolable babe or pup snuggle up next to it. The *tic toc tic toc* of the alarm soothes their nerves, reminding them of their mother’s heartbeat in the womb.

Designer, inventor and award-winning artist, Yury Gitmanhas taken that same idea and created My Beating Heart. Sometimes adults need a good cuddling as well and sometimes uber-geeks need to cuddle with AI and Haptic technology.

My Beating Heart is a heart-shaped plush toy with a small computer placed inside that generates a unique simulated human heart beat using programmed algorithms. Hug the heart and it produces a soothing heartbeat as well as employing tactile technology, or haptics, to add a subtle physical heart beat.

Yury was inspired to make My Beating Heart when, in meditation, he became keenly aware of his own heartbeat and noticed his state of calm and relaxation from focusing on the “rhythm of life”. He then employed his background in design technology to create the toy.

And each Beating Heart is a true labor of love — handsewn by Yury’s partner then handstuffed and handprogrammed by Yury himself.

Now that’s technology that makes you feel soft and fuzzy inside.