Anyone who has ever experienced a long-distance relationship knows it involves a lot of work. That may be why far-away partners are a healthy consumer segment for products like Skype, webcams and the Apple iPhone 4's FaceTime, which offer a way to stay connected with their soul mates.

Enter the "Taion Heart," a device and mobile application unveiled by Japanese mobile carrier NTT DoCoMo at this week's Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies in Tokyo.

The Taion Heart, translated as the body temperature heart, is designed to mimic the experience of holding hands. Sounds sweet, but how does it work?

First, you hold the white heart-shaped plastic device in the palm of your hand. It reads your pulse and the pressure of your squeeze. Then, the device, which is synced with your mobile phone, sends that data to an app on your partner's phone synced to their matching Taion Heart.

Sound complicated? Perhaps, but the real reward is when both hearts are synced.

Based on your data, your partner's Taion Heart will vibrate, change temperature and light up in a rainbow array. It can also vibrate in tempo with your heartbeat.

DoCoMo encourages the geographically disperse lovers to keep their Taion Hearts in bed with them as they sleep. If you can't have your partner there with you, at least you can sleep tight with their vital signs glowing in your arms.