A love tester machine (also called ''love meter'' or ''love teller'') is a type of amusement personality tester machine, which upon receiving credit tries to rate the subject's

sex appeal Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones (ova, oft ...

, love abilities or romantic feelings for someone. Many love testers measure the moisture on the skin surface of the subject's hands by electrically testing the

skin conductance Electrodermal activity (EDA) is the property of the human body that causes continuous variation in the electrical characteristics of the skin. Historically, EDA has also been known as skin conductance, galvanic skin response (GSR), electrodermal ...

and rates accordingly. Others measure the temperature of the skin. However, some machines just use a

random generator Random number generation is a process by which, often by means of a random number generator (RNG), a sequence of numbers or symbols that cannot be reasonably predicted better than by random chance is generated. This means that the particular out ...

. Love meters could be found in

penny arcade ''Penny Arcade'' is a webcomic focused on video games and video game culture, written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik. The comic debuted in 1998 on the website ''loonygames.com''. Since then, Holkins and Krahulik have establish ...

s, and can be seen in modern

video arcade An amusement arcade (often referred to as a video arcade, amusements or simply arcade) is a venue where people play arcade games, including arcade video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, merchandisers (such as c ...

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

s, in bars and restaurants. Such

vending machine A vending machine is an automated machine that provides items such as snacks, beverages, cigarettes, and lottery tickets to consumers after cash, a credit card, or other forms of payment are inserted into the machine or otherwise made. The fir ...

s are for amusement purposes only and do not actually give a real result.

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

, before entering the video game industry, released their own handheld love tester.

In media

*In "

The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" is the twenty-fourth and penultimate episode of the eighth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 11, 1997. The episo ...

", an episode of the animated TV series ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...

'',

Moe Szyslak Moe Szyslak is a recurring character from the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". Moe is the proprietor and bartender of M ...

receives dating advice from

Abraham Simpson Abraham Jebediah "Abe" Simpson II, better known as Grampa, is a recurring character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He made his first appearance in the episode entitled " Grandpa and the Kids", a one-minute Simpsons short on ...

, whose ghost is possessing a love testing machine. The love tester also appears in

Moe's Tavern Springfield is the primary fictional setting of the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' and related media. It is an average-sized, fictional city within an indeterminate state in the United States. The fictional city's geography, surroundi ...

in few other episodes. *In ''

3rd Rock from the Sun ''3rd Rock from the Sun'' is an American television sitcom created by Bonnie and Terry Turner, which originally aired from January 9, 1996, to May 22, 2001, on NBC. The show is about four Extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrials who are on an e ...

'' Tommy restores an old love testing machine at the bar where Harry works. *''

American Restoration ''American Restoration'' is an American reality television series airing on the History channel. Produced by Leftfield Pictures, the first six seasons were recorded in Las Vegas, Nevada, where it chronicled the daily activities at ''Rick's Res ...

'' features a restoration of an early twentieth century love tester machine in the 49th episode "King of Signs". *In an episode of ''

Bob's Burgers ''Bob's Burgers'' is an American adult animated sitcom created by Loren Bouchard that premiered on Fox on January 9, 2011. The show centers on the Belcher family—parents Bob and Linda and their three children, Tina, Gene, and Louise—who r ...

'', titled " My Fuzzy Valentine", Bob tries to find the love tester machine that he and Linda supposedly used on one of their dates.

Digital versions

'' Pinball Hall of Fame: The Gottlieb Collection'' includes a simulation of a real world love meter. Similar games can also be found on the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

or as

software application Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...

s. Software love testers are based on randomness, on various user inputs or on a questionnaire and an algorithm. Only serious surveys and analyses can thereby aim to give a real result.

Gallery

The

Musée Mécanique The Musée Mécanique (, "Mechanical Museum") is a for-profit interactive museum of 20th-century penny arcade games and artifacts, located at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, California. With over 300 mechanical machines, it is one of the w ...

in San Francisco has a collection of over 300 mechanical games including love testers. Musée Mécanique 063.JPG Musée Mécanique 055.JPG Musée Mécanique 146.JPG Musée Mécanique 110.JPG Musée Mécanique 109.JPG

Notes

External links

Exhibit Supply Love Tester coin-operated arcade game
Commercial machines {{Game-stub

In media

Digital versions

Gallery

See also

Notes

External links