Kids these days don't understand how good they've got it. You see, when I was a lad, we didn't have these augmented reality girlfriends, interactive DVD girlfriends, hugging robots, or kissing simulators. But in the intervening years, Japanese engineers have taken the artificial girlfriend concept out of science fiction and are fast turning it into science fact.
Ai Shinozaki is an actual girl. So, no, you can't date her. But she's worked with virtual reality developers to create a highly realistic and interactive program. You can tour her apartment and talk to her. And, unlike a real girl, she'll actually talk back to you!
The staff of Rocket News 24 tried her out at a recent exhibition in the Akihabara district of Tokyo. Reporter Seiji strapped on the VR headset. He said, "If there was a home version of this, I wouldn’t need a real girlfriend!"
The future is going to be awesome.