Taking technology to a new edge, Japanese researchers have invented a human shaped mobile phone.

The human-shaped mobile phone with a skin-like outer layer enables users to feel closer to those on the other end.

The device was developed by a collaboration between Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR), Osaka University, NTT DoCoMo, and other institutions. The product would get commercialized within five years by adding image and voice recognition functions.

The body resembles a human being but its design is so blurred that it could be taken as either male or female and young or old, the report added, CyberMedia News reports.