A new documentary explores the art and business of sex tech in coming years.

The Big Turn On [NSFW] was released at the Cannes Lions Festival by American marketing site The Drum in June.

In the documentary, The Drum speaks to several sex tech companies, entrepreneurs, and journalists, about where human sexuality and its products are headed. It also covers the need to break down taboos about connecting technology with sex.

[NOTE: Video NSFW]

The Big Turn On has several forecasts for the coming years:

• VR technology will make adult entertainment far more immersive. A user can be part of sex scenes, both in the real world and invented fantasy realms. According to director Sam Scott, VR’s realism and illusion of intimacy will earn it many fans in the near future.
• Sex robots will soon have more realistic bodies and movements, plus artificial intelligence. An intelligent sex robot can form a relationship with users.
• “We want to normalize cyber sex,” said a spokesperson for Dutch teledildonics company Kiiroo, which uses moving rings in their products to create a highly realistic long-distance sexual experience. Kiiroo intends to work with webcam and online chat services to help connect sexual partners.
• Online dating apps are causing sociological changes. Hook-up culture will become more casual and the stigma will decrease. Apps like Tinder are already making the sex lives of its users into regular dinner conversation.
• We’re about to see education and knowledge transform how people have sex. Big data is already storing details about online service users and their sex lives, and this will continue. Today, sex app Spreadsheetsrecords the user’s sex habits to give them detailed information about their sex life, such as time spent engaged in sex and highest decibels reached for cries of passion. As well as allegedly telling you how good you are in bed, Spreadsheets rates users by country and provides details of others’ sex lives.

The Director’s Take

The Drum director Sam Scott also shared his views on what’s in store for our sexual futures.

He told Future of Sex that adult entertainment is one of the most fitting uses for virtual reality. This is because VR requires “blinding yourself to the physical world,” making erotic content more enjoyable in this platform than in two-dimensional TV or video games.  VR will make current adult entertainment seem as dull as older versions of erotic video seem now.

Scott especially has confidence in apps. In his words:

“I think the whole sex tech industry will grow steadily over the [next] five/ten years. Maybe the biggest boost will come from platforms like Tinder… There are ads on Tinder now, and I think we’ll see these dating/hookup platforms step into the business limelight over the next 5 years,” he said.

However, there’s one great barrier to sex tech moving forward. Paypal, Amazon, and mainstream credit card processors often refuse to work with sexual technology.

Sex tech entrepreneur Cindy Gallop said in the documentary that “No adult content” clauses will continue to hold back sexual inventions until the business world becomes more bold.

“The future of sex tech will not happen unless me and other entrepreneurs make it happen,” Gallop said.

In all, The Drum has shown that few obstacles remain between the steady progression of sex tech and its users. Media personalities and tech workers are pushing to normalize the recession-proof sexual entertainment industry. Meanwhile, the AI of sex robots and quality of adult VR will become top of the line.

What do you predict for the future of sex? Comment and let us know.

Featured image source: The Drum