It’s never easy to miss someone you love. Even with the unprecedented amount of options we have for communication these days, distance can make separated lovers feel isolated and lonely. The Segnali di Luce (Light Signals) lamp was designer Christian Sallustro‘s Master Thesis project at the Eindhoven University of Technology. It lets separated couples share secret message over the miles.

The lamp is meant to be split into two identical sides, with one side going to each half of the couple. When one person touches his lamp, the other lamp lights up via a wireless internet connection. In this way, couples can send tender touches even when not physically together.

The concept was an exploration in interaction design. Sallustro’s goal was to work in an area unfamiliar to him while creating a product that could enrich lives. It isn’t hard to imagine long-distance couples creating their own sort of light language using the lamps: a shorthand necessitated by separation and made possible by clever, compassionate design.