{"id":15591,"date":"2018-11-15T09:30:21","date_gmt":"2018-11-15T04:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak?p=15591"},"modified":"2019-03-22T21:39:30","modified_gmt":"2019-03-22T16:09:30","slug":"from-stone-dildos-to-sexbots-how-technology-is-changing-sex","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/from-stone-dildos-to-sexbots-how-technology-is-changing-sex\/","title":{"rendered":"From Stone Dildos to Sexbots: How Technology is Changing Sex"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As the TV series\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hbo.com\/westworld\">Westworld<\/a>\u00a0wraps up its second season, the show continues to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/arstechnica.com\/science\/2018\/06\/theres-no-proof-that-having-sex-with-robots-is-good-for-you\/\">spark discussion<\/a>\u00a0about a potential future that involves\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/no-evidence-sex-robots-have-any-health-benefits-report-finds\/\">lifelike sex robots<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Australia\u2019s largest adult sexuality and lifestyle expo,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sexpo.com.au\/about\/feelthefuture\/\">SEXPO<\/a>, is making its way around the country with the theme \u201cFeel the Future\u201d \u2013 a nod to all things sex and tech.<\/p>\n<p>But while more lifelike sex dolls are beginning to hit the market, they aren\u2019t the only innovations on the horizon.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>What\u2019s next for sex?<\/h3>\n<p>The use of technology to enhance sexual pleasure is ancient.<\/p>\n<p>A\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/2\/hi\/science\/nature\/4713323.stm\">stone dildo<\/a>\u00a0discovered by researchers in a German cave dates back 28,000 years. And sculptures with strong erotic imagery from more than 35,000BC are thought by some scientists to be an\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.sciencemag.org\/news\/2009\/05\/earliest-pornography\">early form of pornography<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The main technologies that are likely to be important for developments in sex over the next few years are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Increasing miniaturisation of motors and batteries for stimulation and to simulate human movement,<\/li>\n<li>improved touch-based (haptic) interfaces,<\/li>\n<li>virtual reality and brain computer interaction,<\/li>\n<li>materials development, such as skin that stretches, and<\/li>\n<li>artificial intelligence for control and response.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Sex aids<\/h3>\n<p>Sex aids for solo or coupled sex remain extremely popular. More natural skin-like covers, ranges of movement, battery life and wireless control are major areas of innovation.<\/p>\n<p>Devices such as the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.we-vibe.com\/\">We-Vibe<\/a>\u00a0have gone mainstream, and are now sold by Amazon.<\/p>\n<p>But, as with many technologies, hi-tech sex aids have their downsides. The manufacturer of We-Vibe\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2017\/03\/14\/520123490\/vibrator-maker-to-pay-millions-over-claims-it-secretly-tracked-use\">recently settled a class-action law suit<\/a>following allegations the company breached users privacy by remotely tracking use of the device.<\/p>\n<h3>Teledildonics<\/h3>\n<p>New technologies can facilitate sex with a partner who is present, a partner who is distant, as well as solo activity. These aspects merge in the field of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/culture\/features\/how-teledildonics-is-revolutionizing-sex-work-w449039\">teledildonics<\/a>, which involves partners getting together without being together.<\/p>\n<p>Teledildonics is an extension of web-cam or phone sex. Remotely controlled sex toys can be used to facilitate pleasuring a partner when they are not there.<\/p>\n<p>We may see apps like Tinder and Grindr move in this direction, limiting perceived risks associated with physical contact.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/sellfy.com\/p\/OnY9\/\">Sexy Vibes<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 an alternative to Tinder \u2013 already works by turning a phone into a vibrator.<\/p>\n<h3>Virtual reality<\/h3>\n<p>Since a lot of sexual pleasure is experienced in the brain, advances in virtual reality that make a simulated sexual encounter more realistic and engaging may be\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/chapter\/10.1007\/978-3-319-57738-8_12\">more important than anatomically accurate physical devices<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>You might be familiar with online games where people change gender, appearance, and even species as they wish. Sex is already relatively common in games such as\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/broadly.vice.com\/en_us\/article\/qvd4xw\/world-of-warcraft-sex-club\">World of Warcraft<\/a>, and there are a huge range of sex-games available.<\/p>\n<p>Virtual reality could remove the need to have any link to the real world whatsoever.<\/p>\n<h3>Sexbots<\/h3>\n<p>Sexual robots that behave like humans are a staple of science fiction. Without going into the ethical questions surrounding their development \u2013 which have become the subject of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/campaignagainstsexrobots.org\/\">activist campaigns<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 sexbots to the fictional standard are difficult to make and suffer from the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.strangerdimensions.com\/2013\/11\/25\/10-creepy-examples-uncanny-valley\/\">\u201cuncanny valley\u201d effect<\/a>\u00a0effect. They are close to human, but noticeably different.<\/p>\n<p>And once you have built a sexbot, you need some way of controlling its behaviour. A distant partner may be one approach, a pre-programmed \u201cdigital prostitute\u201d may be another. It is possible to imagine a future where one could personalise a robot using 3D printing and a set of prebuilt responses to appear and act like a particular human being.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Alternatively, advances in machine learning could enable a sexbot to change its behaviour in response to the desires and actions of the user, constructing a completely artificial personality.<\/p>\n<p>Voice interfaces, such as Amazon\u2019s Alexa, are already reliable.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/chapter\/10.1007\/978-3-319-70022-9_24\">Haptic interfaces<\/a>\u00a0could be used to stimulate behaviour, along with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0169814117300690\">gesture recognition<\/a>\u00a0or even\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S1474667016334231\">brain-computer interfaces<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s possible we may see a future where robots are considered\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/thescienceexplorer.com\/technology\/robots-can-convince-people-share-their-deepest-secrets\">more understanding than humans<\/a>, encouraging people to share intimate details about themselves more readily.<\/p>\n<h3>A sexual response Turing test<\/h3>\n<p>The fully fledged sexbot that can be mistaken for a human is still beyond current technology.<\/p>\n<p>Major barriers to this include duplicating the kind of human movement that depends on hundreds of muscles, the development of skin that can feel, and the creation of a nervous system that can respond to stimuli.<\/p>\n<p>Even in ten years time, it is unlikely that the movement and appearance of people could be duplicated unless there is a breakthrough in artificial muscle design and biomimetic materials.<\/p>\n<p>A sexbot that could pass a \u201csexual response Turing test\u201d \u2013 much like Google\u2019s Duplex is able to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.extremetech.com\/computing\/269030-did-google-duplexs-ai-demonstration-just-pass-the-turing-test\">pass as a human caller<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 would be much easier to develop in a virtual world.<\/p>\n<h3>Beyond pleasure<\/h3>\n<p>Some new technologies may have benefits that go beyond just pleasure. These tools might be used to help people with concerned about genital function, appearance or type.<\/p>\n<p>There are already a wide array of prosthetic penises and vaginas, often marketed for transgender people. Adding feeling to function \u2013 by using biomimetics and sensory feedback \u2013 may make them more acceptable than surgery for some people.<\/p>\n<p>Sex and technology link in many different ways \u2013 whether its helps overcome a disability or separation from a loved one, or is simply be a way to increase pleasure and excitement. In the future, physical technologies may be complementary to virtual ones, and fantasy might trump realism in their design and use.<\/p>\n<p>This article was originally published<a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/from-stone-dildos-to-sexbots-how-technology-is-changing-sex-99084\"> the Conversation.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sex and technology link in many different ways \u2013 whether its helps overcome a disability or separation from a loved one, or is simply be a way to increase pleasure and excitement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":294,"featured_media":15592,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[85,1,1813],"tags":[440,456,68,211,1874,25,441],"class_list":{"0":"post-15591","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-blog-roll","8":"category-categories","9":"category-sex-and-sexuality","10":"tag-internet","11":"tag-privacy","12":"tag-sex","13":"tag-sex-toys","14":"tag-sexbots","15":"tag-sexualities","16":"tag-technology"},"menu_order":661,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/294"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15591"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15591\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15613,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15591\/revisions\/15613"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}