PayPhal is the innovation from CamSoda that gives a whole new meaning to tipping with one’s penis.

Launching in Beta, PayPhal will enable men to pay cam models in real-time during a private cam session based upon their level of arousal
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CamSoda, a leading adult entertainment webcam platform, has developed a novel way to add further interactivity to their adult web cam sessions. By using PayPhal described as ‘a technology solution that acts as a digital wallet’ CamSoda claims that users will be able to pay for their adult entertainment with their erections.

“Erections are synonymous with the adult entertainment industry. It only makes sense that here at CamSoda we cater to our users and provide them with a seamless payment method that aligns with their horniness. All things considered, the last thing someone wants to do when fully aroused is pull out…their wallet and enter their payment details and wait for everything to process,” said Daryn Parker, VP, CamSoda. “PayPhal will go a long way towards significantly expediting things, freeing guys up to enjoy the experience without interruption. Now, not only will guys be able to pay hands free, but models on CamSoda and in strip clubs will be provided a definitive barometer of their performance. If a model isn’t putting any effort into their show, and the viewer is left flaccid, PayPhal will tip accordingly.”

Launching in Beta on CamSoda, PayPhal will initially enable men to pay cam models in real-time during a private cam session based upon their level of arousal, as their penis progresses from “flaccid” to “half-chub” to “erection.” In the coming months, CamSoda will look to partner with strip clubs to replace the use of dollar bills and digitize the industry.

What payment method will be developed in the future for women in a similar fashion - the contactless clit?
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To make payments via PayPhal, users attach a teledildonic penis ring around the shaft of their penis, which will take into account the girth of a user’s penis via the Girth Detector ocated on the ring itself, and establish a baseline size. A user then enters into a private cam session with a model, and, depending on how aroused they get during the session – progressing from “flaccid” to “half-chub” to “erection” – PayPhal will send the model an electronic payment in the form of a tip. So, if a user enters into a private session and their penis grows four inches, the model is paid for the four inches the user’s penis grew.

This all looks remarkably like the internet of things are taking possession of your genitals. The datafication of arousal is remarkably like an innovative and updated version of the penile plethysmograph,  a technology used by some sexologists to measure the ‘tumescence’ of a penis. PayPhal appears to convert this tumescent process into a financial transaction between the user and the sex worker. The ‘Girth Detector’ also appears to standardise penis sizes which could cause some difficulty in erectile confidence for some, and have the ability to enhance experience for others, particularly if there is a preference for genital bondage or restriction by the user. The sizes start at LARGE rising to MONSTER, inspiring confidence and anticipating penis performance – and the size of the financial tip.

The datafication of arousal is remarkably like an innovative and updated version of the penile plethysmograph, a technology used by some sexologists to measure the tumescence of a penis
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In the coming months, CamSoda will look to partner with strip clubs to replace the use of dollar bills and completely digitize the industry. Ideally, patrons will be able to walk into a strip club with the penis ring on and tip performers as their penis grows while they receive a lap dance.

The difficulty with part of the concept is the overall aim to digitize payment for both live and online sex workers. Sex workers will also have their own chip and pin readers if a client does not have PayPhal, and this could lead to a social split between those sex workers who are fully digital, and those who are not. This could also lead to differences in financial control between worker and sex trade business owner.

Ideally, patrons will be able to walk into a strip club with the penis ring on and tip performers as their penis grows while they receive a lap dance
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PayPhal could also lead to payment disputes as clients could possibly find that they are accused of lying about their Girth Detector, and are then not paying the right amount of tip. Potentially this could lead to abuse of the system with the possibility of fake erections, and those who think that they are MONSTER size when they are not and vice versa. There may also be a time factor that may have an effect, tumescence may well come and go during the time spent at a strip club, so when is the best time for the penis to pay the tip to the sex worker or stripper? Who has control over payment – the person or the penis?

Overall this is a novel approach, and CamSoda is being adventurous here, as this could be a new wave of payment control that may well support sex workers if the technology is not abused. But what payment method will be developed in the future for women in a similar fashion – the contactless clit?

The post Paying with Your Penis appeared first on Tech Trends.

You can now get sexy thrills as you track the progress of your cryptocurrency investment. What a world we live in…

Bitcoin is having a hell of a ride (yes, this post is going to be full of innuendos, get over it) and now adult entertainment webcam platform CamSoda is taking that to a whole new level with the launch of BitCast.

Bitcoin is having a hell of a ride
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This new feature brings an entirely different sort of titillation to investors by pairing an interactive sex toy with the performance of major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin, increasing and decreasing the frequency of vibration accordingly: If the value of the currency goes up, the vibrating increases; and if the value goes down, the vibrating decreases. In other words, as the value of your investment fluctuates all over the place, so will your… well, you get the gist.

BitCast brings an entirely different sort of titillation to investors by pairing an interactive sex toy with the performance of major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin
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Since the beginning of the year the aggregate market cap of all cryptocurrencies has increased by more than 3,000%
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2017 has seen the value of cryptocurrency – most notably BitCoin – soaring beyond most people’s wildest expectations. Since the beginning of the year the aggregate market cap of all cryptocurrencies combined has increased by more than 3,000%.

And even though many experts argue this is the biggest bubble of our lifetime – and that’s saying a lot considering all the bubbles we’ve seen – every day more people are lured into getting in on that action.

“What has so many people captivated, aside from the fact that virtual currencies are largely unregulated and fraught with risk, is the daily volatility – the stratospheric price rises followed by meteoric price drops. With people constantly tracking their cryptocurrency investments, we saw an opportunity to offer them simultaneous sexual pleasure derived exclusively from price fluctuations,” says Daryn Parker, VP, CamSoda. “Now, with Bitcast, our fans can hook up their favorite interactive toy and literally get pleasure from their investments. So, essentially, as the price goes up, so too do your orgasms.”

To use the new platform, users simply need to go to BitCast and click on the cryptocurrency icon they want to track, then, click “play” and follow the instructions to sync the interactive sex toys, which include a series of penile, vaginal and anal toys. They can then sit back and enjoy the ROI.

2017 has seen the value of cryptocurrency - most notably BitCoin – soaring beyond most people’s wildest expectations
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Since being founded in 2014 CamSoda made a name for itself in pushing innovative and often tongue-in-cheek tech. It was the first adult entertainment webcam platform leveraging “Mobile-First” and has had many forays into Virtual reality including the CamSoda House, an interactive VR experience that allows users to broadcast live adult entertainment directly to their headsets.

Users can sit back and enjoy the ROI
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This isn’t their first venture in interactive sex toys either. Previously, they launched on-demand marketplaces that offers users a catalog of simulated blowjobs and virtual cunnilingus from renowned webcam models and amateurs, which many dubbed the “iTunes of Blowjobs” and “iTunes of Cunnilingus,” respectively. It remains to be seen whether their foray into the cryptocurrency will prove as popular, but now I really have seen everything.

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 on Twitter.

The post Does Bitcoin Turn You On? appeared first on Tech Trends.

Pornography has been instrumental in spurring the adoption of new technologies. As anybody with an understanding of human nature will attest to, if you want people to spend their time and money on something, you need to give them a reason, and sex is always going to be one of the most compelling reasons out there.

Since the Adult Industry is less constrained by societal norms, it is perhaps more free to innovate
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Another reason why the adult industry has proven such a driver of new technologies could also be that it exists on the margins of social acceptability in the first place. They are, therefore, perhaps less constrained by the norms, rules and conventions which tend slow down innovation. In other words, they are less adverse to risk-taking and generally tend to experiment more – which often means being the first to produce embrace new media such as VR.

“Whatever your feelings about it, adult VR is a major driving force for bringing more users into the VR ecosystem. Literally millions of people buy their first VR headset in part because they want to try that VR porn they’ve been hearing about,” says Daniel Peterson Founder and CEO VRPorn. “It’s like the early days of the Internet. Porn was a killer app, and it helped interest grow quicker. Even today, a huge % of internet activity is related to porn, and some of the largest websites are adult. I think the primary way that this drives the growth of the ecosystem is getting more and more people involved. Once they have figured out how to experience VR porn, they will be better positioned to try everything else that VR offers. And obviously VR is much bigger than just porn.”

Whatever your feelings about it, adult VR is a major driving force for bringing more users into the ecosystem
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“The real tipping point is resolving the chicken-and-egg problem caused by a lack of content. Adult always finds its way into the front of the line with new technologies, and it already has limitless content available. Adult entertainment will motivate customers to acquire VR headsets,” adds Jean Claude Artonne CEO of Terpon, who is looking at ways of straddling the divide between mainstream and adult by providing practical solutions to VR’s technical problems in a vertical related to adult interests. “Each vertical has its own role to play, as adult content and mainstream content are actually two sides of the same coin.”

But once we get there, what types of VR Adult experiences can we expect to have, and which are the main roadblocks to getting us there? We asked some key industry players for their insight.

Intimacy

At its best, VR is more than immersive, it’s intimate, says Artonne.

“I travel often as part of my career, and being able to call my wife at home via our VR webcam prototypes makes all the difference. I’m in different countries around the world, and yet my wife and I are never more than one room apart virtually.”

Adult always finds its way into the front of the line with new technologies, and it already has limitless content available
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“Couples have always tried to find ways to make relationships work when they are apart,” says Peterson. “It used to be love letters, now it’s video calls. Many people enjoy using these media for more erotic encounters as well. Phone sex has been a thing for as long as there’s been phones. Yes, couples can get much more adventurous. There are professional adult VR videos shot from both perspectives and synchronized, so you and your partner can experience a fantasy of being someone else, and also of being with someone else,” he adds.

At its best, VR is more than immersive, it’s intimate
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“Adult VR content allows individuals and couples to enjoy another way to interact and live out a fantasy they may not try in real life. These fantasies might include group activities or something even more intimate. This demand will drive new technologies and platforms that support these types of interactions,” says Bradley Phillips Managing Director WankzVR.

The very design and nature of current VR HMDs presents a blocker to such intimacy at the moment, however, since social interaction where you cannot see each other’s faces is challenging to say the least.

“In the short term this means one person can watch and the other person will perform,” says Kiiroo CTO Maurice op de Beek. “There are some technologies like overlaying of the face, but that is in its infancy. Another road would be that couples would both wear VR goggles and they would see a digital representation of each other. The social aspect will be a killer app for our industry, but the technology is not there yet.”

Privacy

A big part of adult related content is anonymous users who never want to register on any website, nor give any payment information. An added hurdle with watching that content in VR is that you need to buy a specific device to watch that content and that transaction and setting it up online often requires providing personal information. For Artonne, however, that actually presents an opportunity:

“Our answer is to have a clear barrier between adult sites and our mainstream platform that can provide a more attractive environment for customers to purchase these kinds of goods without connecting that purchase directly to any specific usage intent,” he explains.

Peterson agrees that whoever arrives at the solution that makes consumers most comfortable will probably come out on top in that space.

“VR technology can potentially record everything you say, do, and see. Proper respect for a user’s privacy needs to be built into VR tech from the ground up. And this is especially true for adult VR tech. The metaverse will come, but it will have privacy protocols acceptable enough that people will want to use it. And if it doesn’t, the consumers will simply join the metaverse protocol that does, and that one will win,” he says.

Multi-sensory experiences

We’re in the early age of VR and it’s like Internet in 1995 where everyone was still finding out what the technology will do.

“In the next few years, you will see more gimmicks coming and every one has its value,” Maurice op de Beek from Kiiroo. “The moment that the best technologies come together in one product is the moment that customers will no longer see it as gimmick, but as something essential in their lives.”

A VR experience that impacts all of your senses at once and in harmony to deliver a perfect simulation is probably a long way off though, according to Phillips.

“We have a lot to do on the road map before reaching our goal of integrating connectivity with toys, because VR requires immediacy based on quantifiable data, and with toys that means measuring a physical and emotional state several times per seconds to allow haptic devices to act as proxies for our own appendages. The technology is coming quickly but it isn’t quite here yet,” says Artonne.

According to Phillips, Adult VR could actually be the first to bridge the uncanny valley.

“Eventually VR and AI will allow us to have virtual experiences every bit as real as any we have now in our daily lives, whether that means flying a fighter plane from your couch or having sex with an entire squad of cheerleaders during the Super Bowl, it’s really something each consumer will decide for themselves,” concludes Artonne.

Adult VR could actually be the first to bridge the uncanny valley
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“Much of the offerings available today … are basically gimmicks, but there is so much more potential,” Peterson said. “I believe that AR and MR will have some great adult applications. For example, imagine having the person of your dreams sitting next to you on your home sofa as you watch Netflix and chill together, and interacting with you in increasingly realistic ways as the technology inevitably improves over time.”

First published on UploadVR

We all know pornography is prevalent, but how soon until #VR porn is mainstream? https://t.co/vL3t2KDfX7 pic.twitter.com/yFfzH3j7X2

— Upload (@UploadVR) May 27, 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 How The Adult Industry is Helping VR Go Mainstream appeared first on Tech Trends.

There’s a plethora of sex toys out there, but as far as I can tell Miss on the Go is in a hybrid category of its own: Sure, it functions as a straightforward vibrator, but it also connects to a mobile app which turns it into a teledildonics device.

Then it effortlessly doubles up as a wearable Kegel exerciser that helps women locate their pelvic muscles, while pleasuring them at the same time.

I put it to Véronique Verreault – Miss On the Go (MOTG) Founder and CEO – that this seems like a classic case of having your cake and eating it too, and she laughs her agreement. “Why not?” she asks.

Verreault’s quest to create the ultimate sexual wellness wearable began while she was studying Management at University in 2014. She was looking for an outlet for her “entrepreneurial fire” as she puts it, and kept coming back to the idea of working with sex toys – which helped her get to know and feel happy with her body ever since she was a teenager. At first, however, the size of the industry and the taboo around it felt rather intimidating. In the end, though, her Eureka moment was inspired by the way she was able to do her favourite Kegel exercises discreetly, wherever she was.

“I had been regularly practicing those exercises, wearing my Ben Wa balls for many years, and absolutely loved it. I wore them when I went to work, while cleaning the house, you name it!” she recalls, saying she often tried to get her curious friends to try it out too.

Verreault’s quest to create the ultimate sexual wellness wearable began while she was studying Management at University in 2014
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“Don’t wait to have urinary incontinence, Darling! I was telling them about the benefits during sex, as you know… but not enough women do it. Then one day, I was sexting with my Kegel and I said that’s it. I thought ‘I need to create something.’”

That something turned out to be not only a sex toy and workout tool, but a connected app that made using the device a fun and social experience, turning your phone into a sort of sexual personal assistant. To do that, she had to not only secure investment and get her head around the complex logistics of running a tech start-up, but also overcome some considerable technical challenges.

 

“I wanted quality and we needed to start over and over to make sure it was meeting my expectations,” she recalls. “The Bluetooth antenna which hangs from the device needed a reliable connection, which is difficult when you throw things like water and metal into the mix. We needed to find a solution that was safe for the body and resistant enough for all the ladies out there to give it a proper workout.”

The main message she wants her product to convey is that confidence is incredibly sexy: “It’s not the short skirt or high heels that makes you sexy. It’s your attitude, your swag, you can have jogging pants and a pony tail and rock this grocery shopping! It’s the same with sex. Trust yourself, respect your body but don’t be shy about using sex toys to explore what feels good and have a healthy sex life,” she advises.

The main message the product conveys to women is that confidence is incredibly sexy
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It is appropriate, therefore, that the workout section in the MOTG app is called “Strong is the New Sexy”. This guides women through their Kegel workouts, with 10 cycles of 10 seconds each (5 seconds contraction with medium vibration, 5 seconds releasing contraction). Consistency is key, as the aim is to make women feel comfortable with the exercise, and contract without even noticing.

Once you invite a partner to play and they accept, you can exchange pictures and texts while they control the vibration on the device
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After downloading the app, users create a free account by choosing a username and password; connecting the device is a matter of turning it on and enabling Bluetooth on your phone to pair them, just as you would with a fitness band or pair of wireless headphones. The first time you use the app with the device you will also need to go into the settings to connect them, but overall it’s a very intuitive UI which makes the process straightforward.

In addition to the workouts, the app can also be used purely for fun, letting you either control it yourself by with the “My Own Pleasure” option, or handing over that control to other users, wherever they are in the world.

The fact that your profile remains anonymous not only encourages people–especially women–to experiment more
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The woman has full control over the experience at all times, as she sends out an invitation either to a specific person with the “I know who I want” option–this could be an existing partner who is traveling, for example —or to a complete stranger with the “mystery game.” The latter allows you to connect with other users based on Tinder-like criteria such as location, age, and preferences.

“The app lets you decide when you want to play. So honey, choose what you want. You want to play alone? Good! You want to play with someone? Good! As long as you’re good with your decision and confident about your choices, you’re good to go!” says Verreault

Sex with strangers? Yes, please!

The fact that your profile remains anonymous not only encourages people–especially women–to experiment more. But it’s also a big turn-on that their research uncovered, which places “stranger fantasy” as one of the top three the most popular amongst women (together with threesomes and lesbian sex).

Once you invite a partner to play and they accept, you can exchange pictures and texts while they control the vibration on the device. The whole experience is rated through a “pleasure bar” which indicates how satisfied the woman is by the interaction. So even though there is no physical stimulation in the bargain for, say, a distance boyfriend, that gamification can lead to some healthy competitive motivation.

Once you invite a partner to play and they accept, you can exchange pictures and texts while they control the vibration on the device. The whole experience is rated through a “pleasure bar” that indicates how satisfied the woman is by the interaction. So even though there is no physical stimulation in the bargain for, say, a long-distance boyfriend, that gamification can lead to some healthy competitive motivation.

Verreault clearly embodies the whole sex-positive mentality
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Keeping sex tech sex-positive

Verreault clearly embodies the whole sex-positive mentality, and is rightfully proud of what she’s achieved in the past three years. With no previous experience in tech, she managed not only to design and ship the MOTG device from scratch, but also develop the accompanying app and social platform, churning out some happy customers in the process.

She’s not resting on her laurels though. While the first version of the app is “fun,” she’s busy recruiting people to help her fulfill a list of improvements, “as long as Santa’s,” based on the extensive feedback from customers so far. And if her determination is anything to go by, it would seem–if you’ll excuse the pun–that the best is indeed yet to come.

This article originally appeared on Future of Sex 

Female #sextech entrepreneur shows ‘strong is the new sexy’ with @missvvsmystery Kegels sex toy and app system https://t.co/CUSCkEhM0V

— FutureofSex (@FutureofSex) May 4, 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 Meet SexTech’s Answer to FitBit appeared first on Tech Trends.

Tech is supposed to be hip, but where it comes to sex, it’s surprisingly square. It’s one woman’s mission to change all that, and spare us no blushes.

“The three biggest tech disruption opportunities today are cannabis, Bitcoin and Sex.” But while money is flowing steadily into the first two – to the extent that VCs and start-ups in those sectors routinely lobby for regulatory change– Cindy Gallop tells me that the Sex Tech space which she pioneered remains taboo.

Sex Tech remains taboo
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We live in a supposedly liberal and forward-thinking age, yet where it comes to sex, repressed prudishness still rules supreme, and this makes investors nervous. So where apps like Yo and Wakey – which can safely be described as pointless – attract million-dollar investments, a platform to socialize sex with over 400 thousand engaged users and a plethora of monetization opportunities is something that VC firms won’t touch with a proverbial barge pole.

Where it comes to sex, repressed prudishness still rules supreme
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Cindy’s Make Love Not Porn launch was one of the most popular TED Talks in history, and not just because it included no fewer than 3 mentions of coming on one’s face. Over 1.6 million people have watched it since 2009, but in spite of near-universal enthusiasm for the concept, she has so far been bootstrapping the platform with only her own savings and support from one Angel investor.

MLNP has to constantly fight against blockers such as banks refusing them business accounts and PayPal not processing their payments. “My team and I fight a battle every day because every little piece of infrastructure that other start-ups take for granted, we can’t, as the small print says no adult content. So I realized very early on that I would have to pave my own way if I want to scale and grow this into the billion dollar venture I know it can be.”

I realized early on that I would have to pave my own way to scale this into a billion dollar venture
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Even with all the obstacles and no development resources, the bare-bones platform already monetizes content, regularly making four-figure payouts to its ‘stars’. There’s huge demand for expansion in areas such as educational content, fiction and commercial partnerships, but growth remains paralysed by lack of investment.

It’s infuriating, according to Gallop, “because it’s never about what the person you’re talking to thinks. It’s about the fear of what other people will think.” Time and again she’s had enthusiastic VCs approach her saying how much they loved the idea and saw its commercial potential, but felt unable to take it to their firms.

It’s about the fear of what other people will think
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Make Love Not Porn operates on a revenue sharing model, which means users get 50% of the “rental fee” of $5 per video. “That’s the diametric opposite of how the porn industry operates,” Gallop points out. “Whether you’re a newbie or the world’s biggest porn star, you only ever get paid by the scene, and that maxes out at about $2000. These people never see a penny from the vast revenue their videos generate, but I believe the business model of the future is that shared values plus shared action equals shared profit.”

Quite apart from the huge revenue streams that could be generated through content – both social/entertainment and educational, Gallop makes an exceedingly convincing case for the market potential of commercial partnerships, advertising and product placement. Hands down, it’s the most entertaining pitch I’ve ever heard, but quite apart from that, it’s a rock solid argument made by someone who, not to put too fine a point on it, really knows her shit. Gallop’s impressive resume includes decades of experience in the advertising industry, most recently as President of Bartle Bogle Hegarty.

Photo by Matthew Williams

She puts to me that, in spite of all the existing taboos and limitations, the current size of the sex toys and accessories market is worth an estimated $1B, and that’s without even going into content-connected teledildonics or the burgeoning field of VR, with all the possibilities that brings. If she succeeds in building MLNP into the platform she envisages, however, “we’re talking Trillions.” She assures me before launching into a typically not SFW story that drives home the point:

“A few months back LELO sent me this special edition black and gold TIANI couple’s massager,” she recalls. “So I open the box, look at this beautiful object, and I find myself thinking: how the fuck do you use this thing?”

 “So I think to myself: there’ll be instructions inside. But all I find is this one-pager that tells you how to charge it. Nothing about what goes where.”

Not one to give up easily, Gallop then turned to that universal source of enlightenment for the befuddled – YouTube – where she did find a video about the TIANI: “But because this is YouTube, what I’m presented with, is a video of what I call ‘Stepford Woman’, by which I mean a completely sanitised, whiter-than-white person holding the device and telling you how to use it. And I’m listening to her and going ‘what? So you put that inside and then the guy puts in his cock as well? How the fuck does that work?’ needless to say, my couple’s massager has never been used with any of my lovers. You don’t want to risk killing the mood with something going wrong.”

Bearing in mind that Gallop is a strong, confident, openly sexual woman who’s a huge fan of sex toys and own a whole bunch of them, what hope do the rest of us have of navigating through that particular minefield.

“It’s simply impossible to overstate the negative impact that our inability to talk honestly about sex has on the ability of every sex toy manufacturer out there to shift their product,” she agrees. “ But because our videos on MLNP are so reassuring in all sorts of ways – we celebrate normal bodies, normal hair, real penis sizes, real-world emotions – we also help to demystify and take the embarrassment factor away, so there’s a huge opportunity for product demonstration and communication.”

Last summer they piloted a collaboration with Refinery 29 to road test 5 bestselling sex toys on the MLNP community. Volunteers were picked from a diverse range of ethnicities, sexual orientation, singles, couples, and asked to video themselves using the product for the first time, with all the accidents, near-misses and laughs left in. It was the ultimate antidote to the Stepfordian YouTube experience that proved such a turn-off for Gallop.

Photo by ioulex

“That was a world first, people trying out sex toys on camera for the first time, and we got a brilliant response.” She recalls one woman who wrote to tell her that watching the user-generated demonstration made her feel comfortable to buy and use the toy where she never would have dared to before.

That was a world first, people trying out sex toys on camera
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But if you think that this potential for “demonstration and communication” stops at sex toys, think again. “There will be a specific area of the site where you can sell any perfectly ordinary household good or product as long as you integrate it, entertainingly, in a real-world sex scenario. The chair they’re using, the necklace she’s wearing, the clothes they’re taking off, the beer he’s drinking. For brands brave enough to do this the viral engagement possibilities are enormous.”

Sex is an area where research and data are badly needed
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As the platform scales there is also huge potential for data to be developed into additional revenue streams, aggregating real world, real time human sexual behaviour information in unprecedented ways. “Sex is an area where research and data are badly needed, yet it’s the most data-free area of research going. It’s also the one area where you’ll find the widest possible gap between what people say and what they actually do.”

“When my angel investor asked me several years ago what our exit strategy was, I said to him that it didn’t yet exist; we were going to create it. Because when we achieve our mission of socializing sex, 10 years from now company X will buy us for a shit-ton of money who wouldn’t even dream of it now.”

It might seem far-fetched to think about a company like Facebook eventually sharing curated social sex videos. This is, after all, a platform that routinely takes down pictures of women breastfeeding their babies. But things can change very rapidly in the social media world. Think about how far the goalposts of what is considered acceptable or ‘normal’ content have already shifted. We might have become rather jaded to it these days, but even your average person from the early 90s would probably be weirded out by most of the videos up on YouTube.

Your average person from the 90s would be weirded out by most videos on YouTube.
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MLNP does feel like something that really does – excuse the pun – fill a gap. If Gallop does manage to pull it off, she could very well – and this is a rare occasion where it’s possible to say this without the Silicon Valley sarcasm– ‘make the world a better place’.

Until we start talking about sex , we’re all quite literally fucked
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Cindy says she’s in the Steve Jobs business of reality distortion. “When you have a truly world changing start-up you have to change the world to fit it, not the other way around.” Because, she concludes, until we actually start talking about sex and socializing it in a healthy way, we’re all quite literally fucked, in the wrong way.

Photo by Kevin Abosch

Ballsy investors are welcome to email cindy@makelovenotporn.com

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.

Featured Photo by Julian Hanford

The post Why We Need The Balls to Invest in Sex Tech appeared first on Tech Trends.

There’s no denying the huge buzz around VR Porn at the moment, as most industry pundits seem to agree that 2017 will see a lot more people experiencing adult content in the virtual world. Inevitably, this heightened interest is also spawning a whole variety of hardware to facilitate and enhance those experiences. These gadgets and gizmos range from the intriguing to downright amusing: The Tesla Suit promises to fully immerse you within a VR environment while masturbating devices such as the Ona-hole manages to be simultaneously scary and hilarious. Then you have talking vibrators, and the OhRoma, which looks a bit like a WW2 gas mask and promises to take immersion to the next level by pumping out smells like “panties” or “body odor” – if you’re into that sort of thing.

The interest around VR porn is fuelling demand for connected devices that enhance those types of experience
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But this goes far beyond the obvious novelty factor, says Toon Timmermans, Co-founder of teledildonics company KIIROO. He believes that the technology has the real potential to improve people’s sex lives, even helping them to overcome their intimacy issues in some instances.

Teledildonics can help people who lack the ability to be physically intimate
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Kiiroo Co-Founder Toon Timmermans

 

“There are some people who lack the ability to be physically intimate; due to distance, disability etc. Adding teledildonics and Virtual Reality gives them an outlet to explore what had never been possible until now,” he says. We see several positive implications: Improved sexual health and immunity, lower blood pressure, pain and stress relief and improved sleep are just a few of the aspects of our lives that are improved. We become happier and thus, the psychological implications become more positive.”

“VR has already proved its ability to enable trance like meditative states through its enhanced visual and sensory inputs,” agrees Ghislaine Boddington – Creative director at body>data>space and a reader in Digital Immersion at the University of Greenwich in London – who has been researching “body technologies” for over 20 years. She believes that sense-enhancing and body connection technologies will converge rapidly across the next decade as various forms of haptics and biofeedback become commonplace. “Interchanges of breath, touch, feel, heartbeat, muscle/ blood motion and other data that the living body can transmit are already developed as individual tools. Bring these together and place them with our bodies into connected immersion spaces, and the potential is huge.”

For Teledildonics to take off, we need to embrace the idea of an enhanced orgasm
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For teledildonics to truly take off, she continues, it needs to incorporate features that will help us achieve what she calls the ” enhanced orgasm” – the potential for extended bodily pleasure that has been explored across the centuries by lovers in many civilisations.

Read the full article on UploadVR

How teledildonics will create more intimate virtual reality experiences. via @alicebonasio #VR https://t.co/e5DAFDnE4w pic.twitter.com/uJz0OL74bE

— Upload (@UploadVR) February 13, 2017

Ela Darling, Co-Founder of CAM4VR

To find out how to leverage VR/AR/MR in your enterprise, Tech Trends offers bespoke Virtual Reality Consultancy support

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 Coming Closer Through Teledildonics appeared first on Tech Trends.

There was huge and palpable excitement around the growth of VR Porn and Teledildonics last year, but where does it go from here?

When will teledildonics become more than a gimmick?
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With the world’s largest Adult Industry event – AVN Expo – happening in Las Vegas this week, it was a good chance to catch up with some of the major players in that space and find out what challenges and opportunities lie ahead for 2017.

Will teledidonics finally become more than a gimmick? What does VR Porn need to do to attract new audiences and become truly immersive? How will that change the way people consume that content and connect intimately to one another?

This year’s AVN Show – the world’s largest Adult Entertainment expo which took place in Las Vegas – focused a lot on VR, even adding two new dedicated categories (Best Virtual Reality Sex Scene and Best Virtual Reality Innovation/Site) to its 2017 industry awards. AVN’s CEO Tony Rios said in a recent interview that the response of the industry to VR has been phenomenal and that although the sector is still early in development, it is definitely here to stay. What remains to be seen, however, is how exactly monetization occurs going forward.

Will everybody be watching VR porn in years to come?
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When I first met Ian Paul – Chief Information Officer of Naughty America – in April 2016 they had just launched Randy’s Roadstop, their first Virtual Reality Adult entertainment series. At that time he said VR hype was justified, as it was growing faster than any format they had ever tracked, but has that trend continued?

Yes, says Paul, who claims they’ve seen a steady stream of new customers flocking to VR experiences throughout 2016.

“New revenue attributable to VR is up 350% year over year, and this year we now plan to offer integrated support for smart services toys from companies such as Kiiroo that offer haptic feedback in sync to the video.”

Incorporating teledildonics into VR is something that several other companies are also launching. CAM4VR Co-founder Ela Darling says her company – which offers live streaming VR sex cameras – is planning to add integration with Kiiroo as well as voice-to-voice capabilities that allow users to chat directly with performers, making the experience much more up-close and personal.

“I’m excited about the implications because it brings us one step closer (essentially the closest) to feeling the person on the other end without actually being in the same physical space – a heightened level of intimacy,” she explains, adding that this physical connection has powerful psychological implications to how users experience adult content in VR.

Several companies are incorporating teledildonics into VR
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“This connection to the person on the other end – knowing you are controlling or someone is controlling your device and what you are feeling- is a powerful psychological experience that users will start to embrace as part of the expected VR interaction,” she believes.

These interactions include not only haptic feedback, but have started to incorporate other – more unexpected – senses: Webcam platform CamSoda has experimented with various new technologies including 3D Holograms recently, but it turned some heads with their launch of a feature called OhRoma, which incorporates odors through a sensory mask. According to CamSoda President Daron Lundeen, it takes the virtual reality experience to the next level by delivering smells such as “aphrodisiacs,” “body odor,” “panties,” or “private parts” via cartridges mounted inside a mask.

And while it’s probably safe to say that this type of experience might not appeal to everybody, John McCoy, CEO of Intimuse says that teledildonics such as the products his company are currently developing already impact profits for adult sites: “Vibra-tactile toys (basically vibrators that move via an app rather than a closed feedback loop) are making a bunch of tokens change hands on the cam sites now, and the ladies like them as performers because they are easy – there is no special hardware needed on the customers’ side to trigger a basic experience. However, it’s easy to see how people will become bored with the current landscape of experiences and thirst for something more realistic, so the market is catching up to us, and I see the two spaces converging,” he predicts.

The adult industry is undergoing a seismic shift as we transition away from the traditional towards a more immersive experience that is delivering a heightened level of intimacy unlike anything before
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Fabian Grey, CEO of virtual reality live cam site AliceX believes that teledildonics is looking at a longer development roadmap than VR, however: “I think it will take a couple of years, until we see a wider distribution of toys,” he says. WankzVR Managing Director Bradley Phillips agrees, warning against expectations of seeing the various innovations needed in the adult experience arena to all come at the same time:

“Each piece of the ultimate solo sexual experience that consumers dream about, is a major innovation in itself and shouldn’t be tied to the technological timeline of the other parts of the puzzle. VR’s most important goals for 2017 should not include “the ultimate simulated sexual experience” instead they need to be centered around driving the core technology forward which means better image quality, faster frame rates, better scaling, and improved depth of field.”

That also tallies with McCoy’s observations of the industry: “Right now, most US operators are focused on optimizing the customer experience with nearly flawless streaming and stable features,” he explains, adding that we should see something of a tipping point in about 18 months, where there are enough eyeballs in headsets and compelling content to generate measurable numbers and success.

Phillips stresses that the growth experienced so far has been remarkable, saying that 2016 brought an absolute explosion of adult VR content being produced: “At the beginning of last year, VR was still seen as a venture that some risk takers were investing in with the hopes that in a few years the marketplace would grow. By the end of the year, it was one of the most relevant types of content being produced for the industry, with successful VR brands already being some of the more recognizable, and profitable products in the pay site industry,” he says.

“The adult industry is undergoing a seismic shift as we transition away from the traditional towards a more immersive experience that is delivering a heightened level of intimacy unlike anything before,” said Claude Artonne, CEO of connected VR platform Terpon, who believes viewers will quickly get more used to being in the action themselves, experiencing everything first-hand. “This heightened experience will only continue to evolve and mimic real life interactions as more and more companies penetrate the space and introduce cutting-edge technology that defies boundaries.”

Artonne says this growth, which has seen significant increase in traffic numbers was further boosted by the flood of low-end Chinese headsets entering the market, with many more people using that type of device to experience VR for the first time: “As the technology continues to evolve, so too will the headsets as they improve in compatibility, aesthetics and overall functionality, which will only continue to drive adoption across the industry.”

He says that for that to happen at scale, however, a few crucial barriers must still be overcome, most importantly the functionality of mobile headsets, which impacts on their ability to deliver more immersive content.

The biggest trend I see over the next year with respect to adult content shot in VR, is the return of the quality porno movie
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That content, however, is already showing some promise, and AliceX CEO Grey believes the biggest trend in Adult VR this year will be segmentation, with productions increasingly catering for various niches.

WankzVR, for example, recently launched a host of experiences targeted specifically at women which – unusually for the industry – featured a female point of view, and Phillips believes that VR will help drive up the quality of Adult entertainment across the board.

“The biggest trend I see over the next year with respect to adult content shot in VR, is the return of the quality porno movie,” he says. “Content that actually has a story line, a script, a production crew and a cast. Not just some guy with a camera shooting a couple banging on a couch.”

So while fully immersive virtual sex might not be here just yet, it looks like we got a whole lot closer, and with the amount of money and interest at play, we’re likely to see a lot more interesting – and some downright wacky – stuff continuing to pop up as the technology develops.

Article originally published on UploadVR

Get ready for more immersive sex in virtual reality this year. via @alicebonasio @avnawards #VR #AVN https://t.co/OdnsAHv4H7 pic.twitter.com/8BM8hPv7Uz

— Upload (@UploadVR) January 21, 2017

For companies looking to get into Immersive technologies such as VR/AR/MR/XR our Virtual Reality Consultancy services offer guidance and support on how best to incorporate these into your brand strategy.

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 on Twitter.

The post What’s Coming for the VR Adult Industry? appeared first on Tech Trends.

Technology is becoming an inseparable part of us, and the next step in this ongoing symbiosis is to bring it inside our bodies.

Implants, programmable gels, smart tattoos… If you thought this was all about robots and teledildonics, think again. The future will, quite literally, blow your mind
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We’re experiencing a huge surge of interest in the field of Human-Robot interaction, reflected not only in news and documentary, but in the sheer amount of cyborg-themed films and TV shows flooding our screens. And what these all have in common – from Westworld to Humans, Ex Machina to the highly anticipated Blade Runner sequel – is how they question what our relationship with machines will look (and feel) like in a future that is both dystopian and titillating.

So it was no real surprise that the Second International Congress on Love and Sex With Robots attracted a lot of attention, in spite of being a rather civilized and low-key academic affair. With the adult entertainment industry already evolving Virtual Reality much more quickly than it evolved streaming video or webcams, and advances in fields such as Natural Language Processing (NPL) we are getting much closer to the point where Artificial Intelligence will be able to pass the Turing Test and become effectively indistinguishable from humans. We might have once laughed at the concept of Woody Allen’s Orgasmatron, but sex with robots is pretty much a foregone conclusion, and it will probably happen much sooner than experts previously thought. In fact, David Levy says that when he first wrote the book that eventually inspired the conference he predicted that the first human-robot marriages would occur by 2050, but when asked the same question at a panel on Monday he told the audience it is entirely possible this will happen much sooner.

Implants, gels, tattoos... The future of #SexTech is much weirder than robots, teledildonics and #VR porn
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Among the philosophical discussions there was also opportunity to showcase some eye-catching gadgets such as Teletongue, a pair of ear-shaped lollipops developed by researchers at Keio University in Japan, programmed to react to each other based on the users’ licking sounds and movements. There was also a device named Kissenger, which connected two mobile phones for a “Real-time Internet Kiss Communication Interface.” Its creator, Emma Yann Zhang explained that such haptic devices were actually very effective in conveying feelings and emotions and helping to evoke a sense of presence in a remote environment. According to her, the importance of physical interaction to the quality of our relationships is still grossly underestimated.

We’re experiencing a huge surge of interest in the field of Human-Robot interaction
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This is something that Ghislaine Boddington has been researching for over 20 years. She believes that so-called “body technologies” have enormous potential to connect people romantically, emotionally, physically and sexually through devices that blend with our physical selves. She coined the term “Internet of bodies” to describe the way that such devices will eventually enable us to network out responses, giving a whole new meaning to “keeping in touch.”

“Physical intimacy goes way beyond sex, or even romance,” she explains. It’s rather about attachment, and this includes how we feel about each other, our environment, and all the objects that surround us. What excites me now is actually the convergence of these technologies and bringing them into our bodies to create new types of intimacy and hyper-enhanced sensualities.”

From Wearables to Implants

Boddington believes that our quest to augment our existence and indulge in new experiences will lead us to turn our bodies into “digital interaction canvas.” Our relationship with technology have already become much more intimate since the widespread adoption of devices like the FitBit, which monitor a broad range of physical data, but wearing such devices round-the-clock can have its drawbacks. The next generation of wearables is likely to be much less cumbersome and intrusive, such as these DuoSkin tattoos made from gold leaf. They’re not only quite beautiful, but easily customizable to a variety of designs, and can be used to control a variety of mobile devices. “Through the user-friendly fabrication process, we enable people to design and create their own skin technology,” explains Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao, the MIT researcher leading the project. The transfers communicate using NFC tags made from chips connected to coils and are surprisingly hard-wearing, comfortable, and relatively inexpensive.

What excites me now is actually the convergence of these technologies and bringing them into our bodies to create new types of intimacy and hyper-enhanced sensualities
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The next logical step would then be for implants to become increasingly accepted, and we’re already much further along that path than you might think. When Donna Haraway published her seminal Cyborg Manifesto back in the 90s she already pointed to many kinds of common implants, and that number has gone up dramatically since then, ranging from tooth and breast implants to pacemakers and devices that provide deep brain stimulation to Parkinson sufferers. Tiny implants in your hand can already replace functionalities such as you payment card or key fob, and we will see this become a lot more pervasive in years to come.

“There are probably over 200 kinds of implants around at the moment, and these are all very programmable, so as these become increasingly integrated into our lives and less of a taboo, we’re potentially looking at a sort of “Body Hacking” scenario that takes us beyond this traditional – and rather artificial – mind-body separation,” says Boddington.

Programmable Gels

One intriguing and rather mind-blowing possibility is that of embedding nanotechnology in gels, which could be used to stimulate our erogenous zones. This type of technology effectively means that microscopic robots within the gel can be programmed to collect data from our body and react to it in a variety of interesting ways according to our preferences.

Boddington makes clear that this type of application is still speculative, but the technology itself already exists and is being used to (no pun intended) lubricate robot joints.

“There’s nothing to stop us developing this into gels we could apply to our erogenous zones,” she explains. “These could provide straightforward tactile stimulation, or help you sync your reactions to that of your partner.” We could even be looking at scenarios where data from your body could be used to personalize Virtual Reality content in real time to fulfill needs and fantasies you didn’t even know (or admit) you had.

Virtual Presence

Advances in Virtual Reality will help us create a sense of “hyper-presence” which will allow us to project ourselves into virtual worlds in unprecedented ways, according to Boddington. That might be hard to imagine in the context of the cartoon-like avatars we see in most VR platforms these days, but advances in technologies such as Morphing, sampling and 3D-scanning will soon allow us to create much more personalized avatars capable of conveying emotion reflecting body language signals.

The importance of realistic movement is something that she’s very aware of, coming from a dance and performing arts background: “the intimate interplay between body language and presence is a key part to enabling a sense of full immersion in VR,” she explains. “Touch, caress gaze, it all feeds into it. The way your skin brushes against another, the feel of a heartbeat or the sound of someone’s breath. Over the next 10-15 years we will see a convergence of these technologies with things like Virtual and even Mixed Reality holograms to enable ways for us to meet each other and be intimate in new ways, whether you’re in the same room or over distance.”

The most exciting possibilities of the next decade are therefore not in creating autonomous machines to be become our proxy lovers, but in incorporating those machines into our own bodies, creating a true symbiosis between our “real” and “virtual” identities. When the wealth of data collected by these embedded devices is leveraged to connect our bodies both to our fellow humans and to other machines it will open up an entirely new array of possibilities. It could forever change how we relate to our physical selves, because pleasure – sexual and otherwise – would no longer be tethered to any particular space and time; It would live within us.

we’re potentially looking at a sort of Body Hacking scenario that takes us beyond the traditional – and rather artificial - mind-body separation
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This article originally appeared in Playboy

Humans could be marrying robots by 2050. https://t.co/5HwIYhEVHU pic.twitter.com/icmdyHHChX

— Playboy (@Playboy) January 6, 2017

For companies looking to get into VR/AR/MR our Virtual Reality Consultancy services offer guidance on how these technologies can enhance and support your brand strategy.

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 SexTech Beyond Teledildonics appeared first on Tech Trends.

Tracing the genealogy of sexbots from Greek mythology to today.

After being canceled amongst much controversy in Malaysia last year, the Second International Congress on Love and Sex with Robots finally took place in London this week, hosted at Goldsmiths, University of London.

As you might expect, there were some interesting gadgets such as haptic lollypops and kissing phones on show. But the bulk of the discussions revolved around philosophical—and increasingly topical—issues around both the morality and practicality of human-robot interactions in a not-so-distant future.

We will probably see the first robot-human marriages by 2050, but it could be a lot sooner
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“What strikes me about the last few years is that advances in technology, and particularly in AI, have been happening much faster than we thought,” said David Levy, author of the book that lent its name to the conference (Love and Sex with Robots: The Evolution of Human-Robot Relationships).

When he first wrote the book, he predicted we would see the first human-robot marriages by 2050. But—much like the exponential AI advances we’ve experienced with Google DeepMind—things are moving at a much more accelerated pace than initially predicted:

“So although this might appear to be a long way off, you can never tell about the future, and if you think it won’t happen in your lifetime, you’re probably wrong. I still think it will happen by 2050, if not sooner.”

How a History of Storytelling Can Help Us Make Sense of Sex with Robots https://t.co/94i9rYRSvQ #LSR16 #robots

— FutureofSex (@FutureofSex) December 23, 2016

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 How Storytelling Makes Sense of Robot Sex 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.