Sextech and VR is More Than Just Porn

More often than not, technology and innovation have been driven by pornography and sex. It has always been a major drive in the advent of technology, starting from the first dildo (look up how the doctors treated hysteria in women in the early 1900s), the move to VHS from Betamax, the surge behind Blu-Ray – and finally the mass appeal of VR on websites like VRConk.com.

Even in robotics, there’s the talk of sexbots being built who will be able to anticipate emotions, react to them, and offer empathy (we forgot sex, duh!). Basically, offer everything that you’re wanted in that perfect girlfriend without the risk of getting hurt, right? Well, time will tell. But are sex tech and VR just about that one second of happiness or does it have deeper implications?

While having fun with wipes, is necessary, it is still a very limited aspect of our entire persona. Masturbating or blowing your load inside a Fleshlight still doesn’t qualify as sex. In fact, studies say that sex causes an increased level of oxytocin release in the body which doesn’t quite happen at the same level when you’re making love to your hand. Plus, sex is more than just about bodies. It’s more about how two contrary energies connect in harmony. But that’s not what we’ll talk about today.

How Is Sex Tech Evolving Beyond Just Porn?

Sex tech is doing more today than ever before. For example, a site called MakeLoveNotPorn is taking an unusual approach to repairing spousal relationships. They encourage couples to create their own intimate videos and post them on the site. It’s up to the couple what they actually do in the videos, but the site mentions that they are not your run-of-the-mill amateur porn site. In fact, it’s not about porn at all.

Founder and CEO, Cindy Gallop, talks about how they see the site as a social media site that allows couples to communicate and have intimate moments. The mission is to encourage all types of sex and not only those limited to traditional porn with visibility and communication. They aim to take away the taboo as people share their experiences and it allows them to look at pleasure in a simpler manner. As a result, relationships thrive. 

One person, in particular, wrote to Gallop explaining how the site helped him change his previous sexist attitude, which he developed from years of watching porn. But then he was sexually assaulted in college.

“It completely traumatized him, but he said MLNP was able to help him think completely differently about sex and sexuality,” she says. “In doing so, it was able to help him recover from his sexual assault.”

The site tries to cater to couples as well, helping to resolve any problems that could arise in their relationship.

Another site is The Future of Sex, which aims to help people create more meaningful relationships while creating real-world sexual connections. The site started as a podcast but has now moved on to being a sex tech accelerator as well. It also hosts hackathons that allow people to address real sex problems with the help of tech. 

How Can We Use Sex Tech In Real Life?

There are quite a few such examples where tech is being used to promote connections between partners. It has its uses but also its limitations. Particularly because tech causes people to remain within their limited perimeter. Take the example of social media sites. They are supposed to allow people to connect with each other. However, real-world connections have actually suffered as people choose their virtual avatars over the real ones.

As a result, the use of tech needs to be done with caution. It can be useful as long as there’s an objective process behind it. There’s space for VR porn and AR porn to actually help people but only as long as it's not used as a replacement for the real-world thing.