The True Love Tinder Robot Reads Your Skin Response to Swipe Left or Right

Looking for love online? Nicole He wants to lend a hand. To that end, He, a grad student at NYU, has designed the True Love Tinder Robot, a computerized system for those searching for The One on the dating app. "In a time when it's very normal for couples to meet online, we trust that algorithms on dating sites can find us suitable partners," He writes. She created the kit as a response to the idea that a computer "knows us better than we know ourselves."

The machine was built using an Arduino board, motors, LEDs, and a text-to-speech module. The system works, He explains, through a process called galvanic skin response, or "basically, how sweaty your palms get" in reaction to the Tinder photos that appear on your screen. The robot interprets that response as either positive or negative and uses a fake hand operated by servo motors to swipe accordingly. Engadget calls the invention a "modern spin on the classic love-tester machine," the penny arcade device that also used skin conductance to judge a couple's attraction.

Check out the video above to see the robot in action, and head to Nicole He's project page to learn more about how she built and coded the love machine.