The idea of making out with a hologram might seem like science fiction, but some companies are coming close

PrimaVR has released a virtual heart beat feature for its holograms
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PrimaVR has been working with adult hologram videos since 2015, and earlier this year released the first version of their haptic holographic video player. It enabled users to feel that haptic feedback through vibrations delivered by virtual reality controllers, and the videos also reacted to the user’s touch; pushing against the hologram actress’ body displaced the virtual soft tissue, while a gentle slap resulted in what they described as a “visually pleasant jiggle.” The company has since been making improvements and adding new features to the platform, such as a “virtual heart beat” that can be felt when the user holds theVR controller against the hologram actor.

While 360 video restricts the viewer's POV, Holograms gives you more freedom to look around
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The main difference between this holographic platform and the type of 360 videos that are becoming rather pervasive in VR porn for example, is that 360 tends to restrict viewers to one PoV (Point of View) while holograms allow your head to move around much more freely, explains Anton Bailey, a PrimaVR spokesperson

We love to focus on experimenting with crazy VR tech
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Like the introduction of smells into the virtual experience, such features might seem a bit on the gimmicky side, but it all adds to the immersive nature of the VR experience, while also helping to push the boundaries of the technology and envisage what might be possible in future, says Bailey. “We love to focus on experimenting with crazy VR tech and be the first to introduce new features in adult VR entertainment.” Such features play a crucial role in increasing the levels of responsiveness and interaction within VR experiences, which not only makes them more fun, but also more engaging. Otherwise we risk what’s sometimes called the “Swayze effect” – which refers to the passive feeling a user can get of just floating through a video.

Such features might seem a bit on the gimmicky side, but it all adds to the immersive nature of the VR experience
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Bailey concedes that most, if not all, of the current Internet-connected teledildonic devices are indeed rather gimmicky and not very widely used.

“Even though odors can trigger strong memories and create an emotional response, smell cartridges and olfactory output will probably have lesser importance for a majority of people. VR will need to be adopted by the masses before a VR compatible teledildonic peripheral, a ‘VR Fleshlight,’ can become a hit,” he said.

Bringing your body into the scene

In the earlier demo, PrimaVR introduced the possibility for users to bring their own body into the hologram video by using the Leap Motion device. The team has since enhanced this feature by enabling those users to also alter their avatars’ skin color, accommodating a wider range of ethnicities so they can experience a closer representation of their own body in virtual reality and/or enhance roleplaying possibilities.

The possibility of modifying your avatar’s look and sound adds another layer of emotional protection alongside physical distance, which enables more adventurous experimentation
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The next step, however, is to make those representations more realistic and seamless, which is why the platform is also working on updating the tech to increase the resolution and video frame rate by the end of the summer.

This type of technology, according to Bailey, brings with it real possibilities for improving people’s sex lives.
“The possibility of modifying your avatar’s look and sound adds another layer of emotional protection alongside physical distance, which enables more adventurous experimentation,” he explained.

He also pointed to the sheer quantity and variety of cybersex in early VR platforms like Second Life as an indicator of how adult content will be crucial in driving wider adoption of the technology:

“Facebook is betting heavily on social VR, and telepresence is surely one of the more important applications of VR. Together with teledildonics, it opens up new possibilities for cybersex, whether conducted by complete strangers or couples in a long distance relationship.”

Bailey speculates that in a more distant future, where people will spend more time in online virtual worlds, VR technology will allow people to experiment with different genders and identities in a social context.

“Perhaps some of the experimentation performed in the safety of a virtual world can carry over into the real world. Whether this will lead to a more loose self-identification is a good question. At the very least VR technology opens a door for increasing social harmony by allowing people to experience life from other people’s point of view,” he said.

This article originally appeared on Future Of Sex

More Than a Feeling: How Haptic Holograms Can Improve Your Sex Life by @alicebonasio https://t.co/wOHqy8Vmcz

— FutureofSex (@FutureofSex) June 29, 2017

For companies looking to gain a competitive edge through technology, Tech Trends offers strategic Virtual Reality and Digital Transformation Consultancy services tailored to your brand.

Alice Bonasio is a VR and Digital Transformation Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post Haptic Holograms that Spice Up Your Sex Life appeared first on Tech Trends.

Alexandra Fine often says she wants to make the world a happier place, “one vagina at the time.”

But while that might seem like just another take on the Silicon Valley joke, fixing the “pleasure gap” is no laughing matter. Women are four times more likely to describe recent sex as “not at all pleasurable,” and that’s simply not OK anymore.

So it’s no wonder that when Fine—a Master in Clinical Psychology from Columbia who co-founded Dame Products with Janet Lieberman, an MIT-educated mechanical engineer—took its innovative vibrator design to Kickstarter last year, it made nearly eight times its original $50,000 goal.

Up to 70% of women need clitoral stimulation to orgasm, and Fin sold itself on an intuitive design that enhanced the natural movements of intimate touching by adding that clitoral stimulation for women to sex between couples.

The #sextech making the world a better place - one vagina at the time
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Almost 5,000 backers signed up before the campaign closed, and more are placing orders on the website every day. So it’s fair to say that Fine and Lieberman have struck quite a chord with the community.

This followed from the huge success of their previous Kickstarter product, Eva (a hands-free, strap-free clitoral vibrator that a woman can wear during sex), which quickly became the most highly funded adult product in the history of online crowdfunding—raising $575,000 in just 45 days.

Read all about it on Future Of Sex

These Sex Tech Dames Are on a Pleasure Crusade by @alicebonasio https://t.co/qv4GYhQCLS #sextech

— FutureofSex (@FutureofSex) April 17, 2017

The post The SexTech Entrepreneurs Who Crowdfunded Pleasure appeared first on Tech Trends.

Soon there’ll be apps for multi-sensory kissing experiences.

In this article for Future of Sex I look at two gadgets that propose to do that through enabling long-distance oral interaction.

Teledildonics is not just about sex, it's about creating enhanced interaction and intimacy
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Attendees of the Second International Congress on Love and Sex with Robots were treated to some innovative tech that promises to connect people in very intimate ways. This is not about teledildonics though, but about rather more safe-for-work interactions of an oral nature—namely kissing and licking.

Technology allows us to interact with our family, friends, and lovers over a distance like never before. We can see and hear them in real time, constantly exchanging messages and information. But the importance of physical interaction to the quality of these relationships is still grossly underestimated.

“Making regular physical contact is essential for maintaining closeness and intimacy in human relationships,” explained Emma Yann Zhang, a Postgraduate Researcher at City University London. She demonstrated her prototype Kissenger device to an enthralled audience at the conference. “Haptic communication is very effective in conveying one’s feelings and emotions as well as evoking a sense of presence in a remote environment.”

Described as a “Real-time Internet Kiss Communication Interface for mobile devices,” Kissenger transmits multi-sensory kissing sensations over the Internet. It works by using a plugin, haptic device that attaches to your mobile phone via its audio jack, producing bilateral force feedback in the form of both pressure and vibration.

“The dynamics of the movements and pressure felt by the human lips during kissing cannot be accurately reproduced by vibrations alone,” Zhang said. The haptic device needs to generate a series of localized forces in order to capture the haptic sensations during kissing.

To achieve this, her team designed an array of linear actuators positioned evenly across the lips to generate normal forces on the skin surface. The same number of force sensors resistors are placed on top of the actuators to measure the contact forces between the human user and the haptic interface. The design works like a phone case to make more space at the back of the phone for those sensors and actuators.

Kissenger transmits multi-sensory kissing sensations over the Internet
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The power of a kiss

“Kissing is the most direct and effective way of sharing an intimate moment and Internet communications should allow people to connect to each other through this form of interaction. Studies have shown that a higher frequency of romantic kissing between couples increases romantic satisfaction and reduces stress levels,” Zhang said. She added that even people who would consider certain types of kissing inappropriate were OK with the electronically mediated sort and found the experience interesting.

I watched as Anna Malinowska from the University of Silesia in Poland shared a Kissenger moment with Clinical Sexologist Chloé De Bie. Malinowska said that she indeed felt a real sense of connection to her partner, even though they’d never actually touched.

It is interesting to see how such devices, even in a public environment, can engender a sense of intimacy and interconnectedness, and how this can be done in a non-sexual way as well. The aim, according to Zhang, is to provide an intimate communication channel not only for couples, but for families to physically interact over a distance.

Studies have shown that a higher frequency of romantic kissing between couples increases romantic satisfaction and reduces stress levels
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Parents could use Kissenger to give their children a kiss on the cheek when they are away at work, for example. It could also be used for both one-to-one communication and one-to-many communication (another potential use-case cited by Zhang is of a pop star blowing fans a collective kiss, which each person could experience on their device).

A multi-sensory smooch

The Kissenger team is now investigating the possibility of incorporating the scent communication device, Scentee. It would emit the perfume or a distinctive scent associated with the user’s partner to create a multi-sensory experience. Smell is an important factor that directly affects our emotional responses to a kiss. When two people are kissing, they are close enough to detect a class of genes present in body odor called MHCs, which determine our sexual preference and compatibility to a person.

Zhang said she believes that emitting a partner’s body odor during kissing helps to create not only a stronger sense of physical presence but also strengthens affection. The next step will involve incorporating other sensory modalities, taste and smell as well as temperature and moisture, to provide a full multi-sensory communication experience.

It is interesting to see how such devices, even in a public environment, can engender a sense of intimacy and interconnectedness, and how this can be done in a non-sexual way as well
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Teletongue

But for users who want to go a beyond kissing, Daisuke Yukita might have the answer. He’s been working with his colleagues Fathima Assilmia, Nadira Anndhini, and Dolhathai Kaewsermwong at Keio University in Japan to design lollipops that give a whole new meaning to “tickling your tastebuds.”

Teletongue is a device that enables remote oral interaction between two people. One Lollipop senses the licking gestures and sound of the user, while the other one vibrates according to the gestures and playback of the recorded sound.

Emitting a partner’s body odor during kissing helps to create not only a stronger sense of physical presence but also strengthens affection
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Developers started off with incorporating a microphone into the lollipop to enable them to listen to the user’s licking movements. It seemed to make sense, therefore, to make said lollipop into the shape of an ear. “We modeled a human ear with 3D modeling software Maya, which we then 3D printed,” Yukita said.

The current version of the Teletongue system consists of a pair of those ear-shaped lollipops (which are not only edible but also tasty, according to Yukita) connected to an Arduino microcontroller. The microcontroller processes the sensed data from one lollipop (collected through a USB microphone that records the licking sounds and a Touché sensor to sense the gestures).

The current version of the Teletongue system consists of a pair of ear-shaped lollipops - which are not only edible but also tasty - connected to an Arduino microcontroller
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The output lollipop contains a vibrator, which vibrates lightly with a light lick, or more strongly with a full lick
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It then outputs the processed values into the other. The device is even able to distinguish a normal lick (without the lollipop entering the user’s mouth), from a full lick (the lollipop entirely inside the user’s mouth). The output lollipop contains a vibrator, which vibrates lightly with a light lick, or more strongly with a full lick.

“There are many teledildonic devices designed to support intimate connections, but this is meant to provide a more natural way of enjoying intimate relationships that blends seamlessly into everyday life.” The aim, said Yukita, is to create a device couples feel comfortable using in public.

“We focused on the act of kissing and licking, which many have no problem doing outside of their home. For it to be a normal, everyday device, it also needed to be an object that everyone is familiar with and something that people have no problem putting into their mouth. We believe that using commonly known forms such as a lollipop will decrease people’s reluctance in putting an electronic device into their body, in this case, their mouth.”

It’s still a work in progress, in that it doesn’t yet work in real time like Kissenger does. But the team is working to use the ZigBee protocol to incorporate that in future and connect the two lollipops remotely via the Internet so users can enjoy Teletongue simultaneously.

“We’re soon going to move on to testing on real life couples,” Yukita said. “We hope that Teletongue will be the first step to a more open and casual usage of sex toys and teledildonics, one that is not embarrassing, but comforting and bonding.”

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio and @techtrends_tech on Twitter.

The post Kissing? Licking? There’s an App for That #LSR16 appeared first on Tech Trends.