Hands-free device aims to relieve gender dysphoria woes among those assigned male at birth.

Progressive acceptance of sexual freedom reaches the sex tech industry via the Exo, a newly released hands-free pleasure device inspired by the needs of the trans-woman community.

Fusing a desire to alleviate gender dysphoria during sex via a body-powered machine, Exo’s founder Lucas Hartmann set upon a journey that has yielded a waist-strapped masturbation sleeve.

It allows for the mimicking of the thrusting motion of sex to achieve maximal pleasure.

Hartmann’s objectives with the device are well in-line with a growing desire to achieve physical and existential aims in serving a more gender and sex-diversified sex tech marketplace. 

[Exo] affirms one’s instinctual and intellectual identity. Sexual activities and intimate connection can be powerfully validating. Helping people express their identity—sexually, or otherwise—can be pretty powerfully affirming.

Targeting trans and non-binary people

The idea of essentially creating a device that directly replicates insertable intercourse to solve dysphoric sexual difficulties is fascinating. 

Exo is comprised of a black or pink-colored, skin-soft, platinum-grade silicone sleeve that expands or contracts to fit multiple penis sizes comfortably. 

As well, multiple sleeve ring positions adapt to different lengths. Non-slip and easy-to-tighten buckles snap into place. The product also requires no batteries or electronics to use and promises simple disassembly for cleaning.

Breaking down the body’s performance aspects to basic science and physics in developing the Exo reveals its most substantial marketing assets: function and utility. 

“It functions kind of like the bar mechanism you see attached to the wheels of a steam train, but in reverse. Solving for focusing on the difference in relative movement between ribcage and hips revealed to us the exact amount of movement needed,” Hartmann explains. 

Also, one’s tummy expanding and contracting provides a secondary dimension of movement. Between the two, the user has quite a bit of control over how much stimulation they get, all while keeping their hands free to engage with the experience more fully.

Prototypes to pre-order

For some penis-having people, the act of strapping a device to one’s person for sexual pleasure may perhaps seem distracting. However, for many trans women having sex, the distractions of having to stop, change position, and masturbate to climax, are often problematic for pleasure.

Exo solves this issue.

Ten plus different prototypes of the buckling strap were created until the unique pull strap attached to a stomach plate was developed.

Hartmann describes it as an “extremely strong” waist buckle concept that includes one-way tightening that is easy to buckle/unbuckle and easily accessible for people with hand dexterity issues.

Initial market testing has been key to the product’s development. Hartmann notes “substantial” evolutions to the concept came from constant feedback from an underserved marketplace. 

These are enthusiastic testers with pretty good intuition and motivation to problem solve. They also have a low tolerance for things that get in the way. Hopefully, we’ve created something that’s broadly intuitive and also adds to the experience.

Explicitly focusing on solving the whole potential spectrum of the body’s morphology and sexual temperament is one of the unique challenges of serving the entirety of the ever-broadening sexual spectrum, wholesale. 

“Inevitably, some users will not enjoy the product, and we’ll be very interested in their feedback, as well as interested in communicating with them about ways to resolve their issues,” Hartmann states via email, with a cautiously hopeful tone.

Exo is currently available for pre-order, with a retail price of $69.99.

Image source: Exo

The post ‘Exo’ Strap-on for Trans Women Signals Growing Diversity in Sex Toy Market appeared first on Future of Sex.

The industry was welcomed back, yet computer screens caused dwindling engagement.

Though it took place virtually this January, the 2021 Consumer Electronics Show event still showcased new products and technologies in the industry, which notably consisted of sex tech.

Two years earlier the trade show had infamously threatened to ban sex tech companies from the main floor.

This year, however, self-pleasure brands including Lioness, Satisfyer, and the 2020 CES Innovation Award winner Lora DiCarlo (after being involved in 2019’s hubbub) were present. 

Also virtually exhibiting their goods were Morari Medical, the makers of a wearable perineum patch that aids people dealing with premature ejaculation. 

Getting comfortable with sex tech

Though the number of sex-related companies in attendance was down from the 11 that participated in 2020—understandable given economic conditions—roughly half of the 4,500 overall exhibitors from CES 2020 were present in 2021, too. 

Any trepidation CES previously had toward the sexual wellness industry no longer appears to be moving forward—at least for the time being.

“CES is getting more comfortable with seeing that sex tech companies are not trying to display vulgar images or product demonstrations,” says Jeff Bennett, Morari Medical’s CEO and Founder, who felt restful yet bittersweet over staying at home instead of hustling between buildings at hotels. 

“Rather, we’re here for sexual education, health, and wellness.“

According to Bennett, for 2020’s virtual events, CES required all vendors with virtual display assets to submit them for approval. 

For a company marketing a premature ejaculation device prototype, not showing an actual penis is difficult. The fact that genitalia could not be explicitly shown required the workaround of placing a mound over a visual of a crotch to suggest to viewers that the figure was male. 

Bennett also offered  a sense of how sex tech firms  may need to spend to adapt to regulations: 

We invested some money in developing visual assets—in the form of a short animation—to showcase how our wearable patch is placed and how it works.

‘Seeing is believing’

Morari’s CEO is pleased with 11,000-plus views of those assets in two days, but is dismayed with the lack of engagement with the chat function  

After viewing the educational video clip, virtual CES visitors could engage, via chatroom, with Morari personnel “stationed” at the booth. Ideally, this would allow for visitors to ask more in-depth questions in regards to the patch’s form and function. 

Regarding if COVID-19 precautions limit Morari’s post-CES activities, Jeff Bennett said he does not expect the pandemic will not slow progress. To this end, he highlighted both research and development goals for 2021.

He added that working with clinicians, urologists, and adhesive manufacturers over the past year has improved the fit of the patch itself, ensuring that it painlessly sticks to the skin while also allowing the needed conductivity to impact the nerves. 

Moreover, the company will be engaging in DELAID, it’s first official study highlighting their product’s ability to effectively neuromodulate the ability for men to achieve orgasm. 

The study—involving ten couples participating in 12 intercourse events using the perineum-affixed device—has been approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB), which considers whether or not research studies are safe and ethical for human participation. Preliminary results of the study are expected by the end of the first quarter of 2021.

However, when asked if an entirely virtual or hybrid real-time/virtual model could be ideal for CES and sex tech’s future, Jeff Bennett—who has a growing industry reputation as a quick-witted marketer—feels less than positive about that possibility.

At CES 2020, we had lines at our booth that were five, six, or seven people deep wanting to engage with our product. The most important concept with Morari’s technology—like any of our technology—is that seeing is believing. Visual and physical interaction creates comfort.

Image source: CES, morarimedical, Morari Patch Animation

The post Sex Tech Crowds Played It Coy at CES 2021 Virtual Summit appeared first on Future of Sex.

Healthy Pleasure Group CEO on sex tech’s evolving journey and integration in daily life.

While the sex industry thrived in certain sectors due to rising demands for sex-related products last year, it now also stands at a crossroads with larger sexual culture. 

According to Dominnique Karetsos, CEO of sexual health and technology industry research firm Healthy Pleasure Group, self-expression via sex tech will allow 2021 to avoid a continuation of last year’s sudden and frustratingly dynamic realities.

Sex tech product innovators reported product sales at 200% greater than expectations last year. 

However, in journals like The Economist, stories reveal how global economic decline and fear of pregnancy during a pandemic is spurring a decline in fertility rates in wealthier countries. 

While in more impoverished locales, the mental stress of sudden mass displacement is adding to sexual activity. However, the lack of readily available contraception due to supply chain disruption is leading to a surge in unwanted pregnancies.

Ultimately, the desire to engage in sex and how to do so safely and sustainably to one’s individual standard is a personal decision. 

Preventative healthcare may get sexier

Karetsos told Future of Sex via email that “the desire to stay home and look after ourselves” allows for the rise in a “sexier take on preventive healthcare.” 

In her perspective, this adaption to the present era allows for everyone—regardless of socioeconomic background—to “awaken and open our minds, bodies, and behaviors to changing the way we receive, give, understand and experience our intelligence and sexual identity.”

Karestsos links the industry of sex to how society can most healthfully navigate through the forthcoming year.

Foremost, she highlights pleasure-affirming language and social media developing as a sexually inclusive space. Plus, the gamification of pleasure, sex tech’s rise, and mental health support as key indicators to watch are mentioned. 

A self-described “eternal optimist,” Healthy Pleasure Group’s CEO added:

On the other side of a tough and challenging year is celebrating and exploring, in lockdown, the innovation, education, and investment that will steer 2021 into healthier behavioral change.

Karetsos’ notions regarding integrating sexual innovation into our most sustainable and healthy lives in 2021—as related to predominant news and views in the sex tech space offer a mixed bag of possibilities apparent.

Diverse sex tech product offerings

For as much as she highlights brands like Pleazeme.com and iPlaySafe as emergent in the social sharing and digital community conversations, established hubs like FetLife, as well as open-source apps like Instagram, are currently restrictive market leaders in the online space. 

Instagram’s recent sex-negative update of their terms of service, as well as FetLife’s inability to quell conservative propaganda and hate speech highlights a line in the sand worth watching. Creating sustainable inroads for nurturing positive sexual expression of all varieties is essential.

In the space of already lucrative tech-enabled sexual devices, a spotlight is shone on the EXO; a trans-woman inspired sex toy that works for any person with a penis / external erectile genitals to receive pleasure. 

Adaptable with adjustable straps, it “accompanies the evolving pleasure pulsing through a transitional journey.” 

Couple this with companies like Fleshlight and Lovense—plus sexual stamina gamification brand MYHIXEL—crafting multiple adaptive innovations in the self-stroker marketplace, and the diversity of products and needs fulfilled is at an all-time high.

Plus, insofar as language, one need look no further than to shop enby’s recent battle with Wildflower Sex to note how powerful the desire to identify one’s self as also a manner of powerful human expression has become. To wit, Karetsos adds a point with much greater scope and reach. 

The power of the language can build countries, reshape policies, and carve spaces for our identities. Lexicons are how humanity is witnessed; here is hoping that this trend evolves into our new cultural fiber for a positive social impact.

At present, sex has evolved into more than an act of pleasure because of unprecedented necessity. 

Ultimately, it offers a more broadly restorative social, sociopolitical, and socio-cultural sense of kindness and calm. 

“Our sexual pleasure was once last on our list to [take care of],” Karetsos said.

“Now, with no other choice to stop and connect with ourselves and others, we can take care of our innately human right to experience joy during a global threat to humanity.”

Image source: zheng shi, Klaus Hausmann

The post How Learning from 2020 Can Give Us Sexier, Healthier Sex Lives in 2021 appeared first on Future of Sex.

The new Arcwave Ion excites pleasure receptors in the frenulum.

The latest sex toy from WOW Tech Group, the Arcwave Ion stroker, uses “Pleasure Air” technology to enable trans and non-male-identifying penis-havers to feel sensations typically associated with the female orgasm.

With each passing year, gender’s long-stereotypical binary continues to be rendered more obsolete. Thus, an innovation centered on the idea that the penis and the clitoris share a similar type of frenulum— a small fold of tissue that secures any mobile organ’s motion in the body— in their composition is ideal. 

Scientists affiliated with Berlin’s WOW Tech Group—the makers of the Womanizer and WeVibe products— have discovered that using a jet-stream of air to target the Pacinian pleasure receptors associated with the penis and clitoris allows for a release that mirrors the powerful intensity of the female orgasm.

An obvious question to be asked regarding the Ion is if a marketplace exists that would be keen on wanting such a unique device. 

The marketplace for strokers

Cis-gendered heterosexual men have numerous strokers that mimic hand-to-member masturbation available. As well, Fleshlight offers the Fleshjack series that is targeted at the homosexual male market. 

Are there enough penis-possessors who neither identify directly as straight or gay men to warrant the development of a premium erotic device?

Recent studies highlight a positive answer.

2019-released data shows that, for the past decade, estimations that 1% of America’s adult population and roughly one-in-four Americans and one-in-ten of the world’s adults identify as LGBTQ have remained stable.

Though rough numbers for America show that 1% of the US population identifies as transgender, similar numbers worldwide have yet to be calculated.

However, Columbia University Press’ 2011-released The Lives of Transgender People highlights that transgenderism occupies a physical, social, emotional, and psychological realm. Thus, counting “transgender” people is as simple as it seems.

A proper accounting of who exactly is “transgender” requires counting all “genderqueers, androgynes, bi-genders, third genders, transgenderists, and other transgender individuals who describe their genders in nonbinary ways.”

How it works

The Ion— this newly emergent demographic’s latest innovation— is, on the surface, an electronic, hand-held plastic container.

Mechanically, it pumps a jet-stream of air directly into a tight silicone sleeve that interacts with the sensitive nerve endings along the underside of the head of the penis, or—for a person not born with a penis initially—would mirror their clitoris.

An on/off switch controls the air pumping, and post-orgasm, the cleanup reflects that of most penis sleeves.

Regarding the unique sensations that define Ion as a product, a product tester from Skopos Research Institute is noted, in Arcwave’s advertising copy, as stating the following:

In comparison with normal masturbation, the orgasm felt much more intense and also lasted longer. At the beginning of masturbating, the feeling was relatively weak. […] Until at some point apparently I broke through a wall. From that point on, suddenly a big wave built up a very strong and intense feeling, which ended with an orgasm.

The progressive product currently retails online at $199, excluding tax.

Though the United States National Center for Transgender Equality notes in a 2017 study that many of the nation’s transgender population face economic hardships, this innovation is still important. 

Scientific research that unlocks the ability to destigmatize pleasure for a growing yet still ostracized population is critical.

Allowing the foundation of all people’s full visibility to be set in stone is key to spurring the globe’s social progression.

Redefining the male orgasmic experience as a part of this progression welcomes an open-mindedness that assumes a vibrantly diverse future is possible.

Image source: arcwave

The post This Stroker Gives Female-like Orgasms to Trans People and Men appeared first on Future of Sex.

Owners of the Womanizer sex toy allege Baci and Osé devices violate its IP rights.

Seeking to enforce three of its patents covering Womanizer Pleasure Air Technology, WOW Tech Group has sued Lora Dicarlo for allegedly infringing upon its intellectual property rights with its Osé, Osé 2, and Baci products.

It’s an easy-to-argue point that more so than marketing, advertising, research, and product development, the creation of patented technology drives the revenue earning differences between various sextech brands in a quite overcrowded marketplace. 

For instance, Lovense owns 50-plus unique patents on its proprietary teledildonic innovations. These individual assets allow the company to differentiate its from other sex toy manufacturers, often offering very similar devices. 

Because the sextech marketplace is as deep as it is wide, it’s frequently tricky not to replicate another brand’s creativity, often by pure accident. In this case, the patent process works well to ensure that creativity is adequately rewarded.

Womanizer’s Pleasure Air technology is noted to use pulsating and massaging changes in air pressure without touching the clitoris, ensuring that the clitoris’ nerve endings are never over-stimulated. 

Comparatively, ​Lora Dicarlo’s products create a blended orgasm via a G-spot massager and Womanizer stimulator-similar “clitoral mouth” to arouse and stimulate both pleasure points. 

There’s a potential to mistake the Womanizer and the Osé as being similar in the marketplace. Consider the marketing bonanza Lora Dicarlo’s products had after being banned from being showcased at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Showcase in Las Vegas, plus naming model Cara Delevingne co-owner and creative adviser in November 2020. 

Ensuring that a product with both niche popularity and some manner of notoriety is not closely associated with your brand—though you share similar essential technology—is critical. 

Womanizer preceded Lora Dicarlo’s products to market by nearly a half-decade, selling over three million units in 2018 alone. They’ve also achieved a depth and scope of research and development in the marketplace surrounding the Pleasure Air patent that would allow a product like the Osé (and others) a much easier navigation and entrenchment in the retail space.

It is important to note that, in 2019—on the back of the Osé yielding $1.5 million in gross revenue within 36 hours of its product launch—Lora Dicarlo was able to reach $3 million in revenue that year. Now, headed into 2021, the company’s revenue is noted by Forbes to have reached $7.5 million—a growth of 150 percent.

Related to this point, in a public press release statement, WOW Tech noted a heightened desire to engage in patent protection. “[We’re] committed to vigorously enforcing [our] intellectual property rights against all infringers, including retailers, distributors, and other market participants selling infringing products.” 

“After CDH Investments acquired a substantial stake in the company in the beginning of 2020 and became a main shareholder. WOW Tech set the strategic direction for the coming years with an even stronger focus on innovation and enforcement of its patent portfolio.”

However, one step deeper is the statement that continues from WOW’s CEO Johannes von Plettenberg. 

“We also have a responsibility to our valued partners who sell our products. We want to ensure that copycats do not harm their businesses and sales.” 

COVID-era sales in self-pleasure devices are astronomical, and the expectation for unprecedented revenue is apparent. Profit margins being what they could potentially become, the need to ensure that all companies are uniquely able to reap the benefits is important. 

“The WOW Tech team is working hard, investing much time, budget, and passion into creating new and innovative products,” WOW CEO von Plettenberg notes. 

Lora DiCarlo responded to the lawsuit in a press release on January 13:

“Lora DiCarlo denies these claims and will vigorously defend ourselves in court. Our products implement technology that we own, and we warrant that our products do not infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others.”

Immediately after filing its case, WOW Tech revealed the real reason it filed suit: to use the case to threaten our distributors and retailers in a repugnant display of anti-competitive practices. We believe our distributors and retailers have the right to work with any brand that they choose, based on the best interest of their customers.

In the highly unlikely event that a Lora DiCarlo product is found to infringe a patent, we will take back any offending products and issue a credit to our valued retailers.”

Image sources: Wow Tech Group, Lora DiCarlo

The post Lora DiCarlo Responds to WOW Tech Group’s ‘Pleasure Air Technology’ Patent Claims appeared first on Future of Sex.

Genital prosthetic promises to turn you from flaccid to erect in seconds.

The VDOM, an app-driven prosthetic penis, allows all to believe that great sex can always be possible, when, where, and how you want it. 

In a case of proving the truth of the adage, “in wine, you discover the truth,” VDOM CEO Glenise Kinard-Moore, a cybersecurity professional and SkiiMoo Tech founder, conceived of VDOM after “a few bottles of wine with friends.” 

She wondered, “[wouldn’t] it be nice to be able to have spontaneous sex with my wife any time anywhere, without having to deal with all of the issues with traditional strap-ons and some of the roadblocks with traditional lesbian sex?” 

The resulting product is VDOM, a medical-grade silicone “cyber penis” that can be worn by all genders. Snap attachments in uniquely designed underwear secure the VDOM in place, allowing for hands-free sexual action. 

One of its main selling points is how it can turn a flaccid penis erect in just a few seconds.

During partnered use, the VDOM wearer and receiver can ping each other regarding their sexual desires via text notifications in a Bluetooth-connected app. From there, the receiving partner can control the device and the erection’s stiffness. 

At present, The VDOM has an online retail price of $675 and limited pre-order availability. Pre-orders are taken after signing up for free VIP Membership at the product’s website. This allows for exclusive email updates, plus $200 off the retail price, and a free pair of VDOM custom underwear that retails for $65.

Falling well in-line with costs for other premium sexual goods in the sextech marketplace, it differentiates itself in how it signals commerce and capitalism, embracing the world’s sexually progressive future.

What’s notable about The VDOM, though, is how it fills a void in an already broad and deep teledildonic marketplace, yet one that is arguably lacking when it comes to meeting the needs traditionally underserved and more diverse communities

Diversifying sex tech

2018 research from the United States’ National Institute of Health (NIH) shows that 33% of American men likely have mild-to-severe erectile dysfunction. As well, gender reassignment surgery has risen over 250% in the past two decades in the United States. 

Alex, a product-testing transman, said, “the ability to use a device that can go from flaccid to erect in a matter of seconds can be life-changing for my dysphoria. Although I plan to have bottom surgery in the future, the VDOM would be a significant place holder as both an everyday packer and in the bedroom. I believe the VDOM will be the next big thing in the LGBTQIA community, and I’m excited to be a part of that.”

Though the product has all of the ear-markings of massive market appeal, it’s still the brainchild of Moore, a Black, lesbian, first-time sex industry entrepreneur who, until recently, was boot-strapping the funding end of the project. 

Given that much less than 5% of the sextech marketplace is Black, female, and lesbian, it can be quite a complicated process. However, the neophyte sex industry entrepreneur is thriving.

“This is my first go in the sex industry; however, the innovation and sophistication of the technology utilized to create The VDOM—as well as a few other factors—make the product’s reach bigger than just a sexual act,” Moore says. 

This is also a life-changing product for those with physical disabilities and those who have erectile dysfunction.

At present, tech-enabled sex devices are experiencing a prodigious sales boom. Thus, as Moore states via email, the idea of being “pioneers in the world of prosthetics and genital devices” is challenging. 

Hearteningly, Moore continues, “the investor field is starting to reshape traditional approaches to investing, and this reshaping will fare well for innovation and the revolution of the sex tech industry.” 

The company and product’s future certainly appears bright, and even amid a pandemic, their ambitious desire to get the product to market is still on course.

“We have already found a product manufacturer that has an international presence but is based out of the USA. Plus, we are preparing to physically test The VDOM with 100 testers provided by European sex-tech research specialists The Modality Group,” says Moore.  

We are thinking well into the future with innovation; we have some big announcements coming soon that I can’t speak on right now, but right now, more than anything, we are focused on creating the best product we can make.

Image source: thevdom

The post VDOM’s ‘Cyber Penis’ Evolves Wearable Sex Tech for All Genders appeared first on Future of Sex.