Japanese Sex Game Mixes VR and Blow Up Doll for Immersive, Erotic Fun

January 21, 2017

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New virtual reality simulation set to rock adult trade show.

A screen shot from the erotic Japanese VR game Let's Play with Nanai.

The producers of Let’s Play with Nanai [Japanese site] have come up with an intriguing mixture of technologies they hope will wow the attendees of the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo currently taking place in Las Vegas until Jan. 21.

Nanai combines virtual reality, a smartphone’s gyroscopic sensors, and a doll resembling a woman’s torso to give users a uniquely immersive erotic experience.

Released last year in Japan, the game uses a VR head-mounted display setup for the visuals, putting the user in the animated Nanai’s bedroom. So far it’s similar to a great many similar virtual reality games.

But what VRJCC, the game’s developers, have done differently is upped the immersive erotic stakes by adding an inflatable doll that a smartphone fits inside.

This means that when the two devices are coupled via Bluetooth, the program knows where the doll is located and what position it is in. This gives allows users to feel physical sensations, including sex in a range of positions, that match the virtual reality imagery.

Inspired by a need for female companionship during college years, VRJCC’s game is now being distributed in the United States by ImagineVR, out of Los Angeles.

Both ImagineVR and VRJCC hope that Nanai will be a big hit at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo where it is on display.

Image source: Imagine VR

M. Christian

M.Christian (they/them) loves nothing better than exploring the intersections of sex and technology—and speculating on the future of both. A highly regarded erotica writer they have six novels,12 collections, 100+ short stories, and 25 anthologies as an editor to their name. Their non-fiction regularly appears in many sites, but they're most proud of being a regular contributor to Future of Sex.

Of their erotic fiction, Tristan Taormino said that “M.Christian is a literary stylist of the highest caliber: smart, funny, frightening, sexy—there's nothing [they] can't write about… and brilliantly.”

Reflecting their unique ability to sympathetically and convincingly write for a range of genders and sexual orientations, their stories have appeared in multiple editions of Best American Erotica, Best Gay Erotica, Best Lesbian Erotica, The Mammoth Books of Erotica, and others. Their collection of gay erotic fiction, Dirty Words, was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award.

While a majority of their stories have been collected into books like Dirty Words, their fondness for combining sex and science fiction is clearly evident in collections that include Rude Mechanicals, Technorotica, Better Than The Real Thing, Skin Effect Effect, Bachelor Machine, and Hard Drive: The Best Sci-Fi Erotica of M.Christian.

As a novelist, M.Christian’s versatility is on full display with Running Dry, The Very Bloody Marys, Brushes, Painted Doll; and the somewhat controversial queer BDSM/horror/thrillers Finger's Breadth, and Me2.

M.Christian has worked on the industry’s production side as an Associate Publisher for Renaissance E Books and as a Publisher for Digital Parchment Services. The latter dedicated to celebrating the works of science-fiction legends such as William Rotsler, Jerome Bixby, Jody Scott, Arthur Byron Cover, Ernest Hogan, and James Van Hise.

Covering topics like BDSM safety, sexual education, senior sexuality concerns, queer and gender issues, plus reviewing a variety of sex tech products, M.Christian’s non-fiction has appeared on sites like Kinkly, Tickle.Life, Sexpert, Queer Majority, Sex for Every Body, and—of course—their ongoing work for Future of Sex.

If there’s anything M.Christian enjoys more than writing, it’s teaching. A featured presenter, sometimes with their friend Ralph Greco Jr, at national sex and BDSM events, they have lectured on kink play (with an emphasis on safety), polyamory, boosting sexual creativity, and erotica writing--for beginners or those wanting to go pro.

M.Christian is a cohost on two popular sex-education podcasts: Love’s Outer Limits with Dr. Amy Marsh and Licking Non-Vanilla with Ralph Greco, Jr.