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Home > Immersive Entertainment > VR Porn > VR Pornography Makes People Feel More Desired and Empathetic, Study Shows

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Home›Immersive Entertainment›VR Porn›VR Pornography Makes People Feel More Desired and Empathetic, Study Shows

VR Pornography Makes People Feel More Desired and Empathetic, Study Shows

By M. Christian
June 17, 2021
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Immersive technology can create a real feeling of connection, with potential to be an 'empathy machine.'

Image of a man using virtual reality devices and laptop

Recently, a team of researchers from the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, in Hamburg, Germany speculated that virtual reality (VR) experiences could trigger emotional responses in users.

In a paper published in The Journal of Sex Research, researchers working out of the university’s Institute for Sex Research, Sexual Medicine and Forensic Psychiatry observed that their subjects felt a greater sense of intimacy and empathy after viewing VR pornography versus two-dimensional videos.

The researchers even suggested that VR could be considered an “empathy machine.”

VR pornography made viewers feel “desired”

Picture of couple holding hands

In the study, the research team showed a pool of fifty male-identified volunteers a random mix of two-dimensional and virtual reality adult films.

The subjects were then asked to report on how connected they felt to the performers. The research group also measured the amount of oxytocin, a hormone that influences feelings of connection and sexual response, in their saliva.

The results were definitive: the participants who watched VR pornography “felt more desired, more flirted with, [and] more looked into the eyes. They were also more likely to feel connected with the actors and more likely to feel the urge to interact with them.”

Creating empathy through VR

Image of two people thing of each other and creating empathy

It is my belief that intolerance often stems from the inability to see others as fellow human beings. To break free of a limited worldview, it is important for people to gain awareness of what life is like for others.

The University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf experiment suggests that VR could be a useful tool to do just that.

Imagine the possibilities if someone could slip on a pair of VR goggles and experience life as someone with a different gender expression, sexual orientation, age, race, ethnicity, disability, and so on.

Considering the results of the VR pornography study, it is possible that this could create a real feeling of connection and understanding.

Freedom in privacy

Another thing to consider: VR experiences can be used as safe, private spaces.

For example, consider the plight of a person who is working through identity development involving gender or sexual orientation. With VR, this person can be who they want to be, or do whatever arouses them without fear of being watched or judged.

The new research shows that this person could also experience the positive emotional and physiological effects of interacting with other people in the VR experience.

The path to acceptance

Image of two man leaning on each other and thus sharing emotions

With this and other new technological innovations, we may be on the road to a future where everyone would have the opportunity to experience what life, love, and sex is like for the people around them.

I have hope that this is the path towards greater understanding, acceptance, and especially empathy in our society.

Image sources: Oleg Afonin, Jen. Y, Sean MacEntee, Mademoiselle Rose

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.
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