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Tinder-connected Sex Toys May Be Coming Soon. Will You Let Matches Control Your Vibrator?

January 17, 2017

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Developers asked to integrate sex toys with dating apps.

Dating apps like Tinder and Grindr could soon come with an added erotic thrill: a way for potential hook-ups to play online with remote sex toys. If long-distance sex with new partners interests you, you can thank sex tech company OhMiBod for it’s upcoming open-source, software development kit (SDK).

OhMiBod’s SDK will be a resource for developers to create customized vibrations and actions for its line of sex toys. Best of all, they could be integrated into various gaming and online dating platforms.

“There is an extraordinary pool of creative, talented developers as well as existing platforms who can use our environment to create apps that take intimacy to new heights, whether it’s through gamification or integration with dating platforms like Tinder or Grindr,” said OhMiBod founder Suki Dunham in a press release.

In particular, the potential integration of OhMiBod technology, such as its new remote-control wearable vibrators Club Vibe 3.OH and Lovelife Please, with dating apps that is grabbing a lot of attention.

Speaking to The Memo, Dunham elaborated on the possibilities the SDK can offer:: “Imagine you’re on a dating app and chatting with a potential partner—and they are ‘OMB enabled’ (e.g. pink dot on the screen that signifies a user is in an ‘active’ state much like Facebook Messenger. If they are active, it means that they are connected to one of our BlueMotion vibes. The partner could accept an incoming request to take control of their vibrator while in a chat or video session.”

Big change for online dating?

This new type of physical connection, albeit by proxy, could very well mean the formation of a new type of digital swipe right—to use Tinder terminology. Why bother hooking up with someone in the flesh when you can just hit Dunham’s pink dot icon and have a sexual experience via one of OhMiBod’s devices?

In fact, it’s possible that the whole concept of dating apps could change. After all, apps like Tinder and Grindr are well-known tools facilitating hook-up culture. So what happens to dating apps when they aren’t actually being used for dating?

It’s even possible that Tinder and Grindr’s pictures could be replaced by video chats and ratings: the higher the score, the more people pleased. Kind of goes back to the old idea of “gives good phone.”

OhMiBod is not the only developer opening its software doors. MysteryVibe, the creators of the bendable Crescendo sex toy, is working on way for users to design their own vibration tracks in a program reminiscent of the GarageBand workstation for music and audio.

In any case, it’s exciting to see sex tech entrepreneurs open to harnessing the creativity of their customers. As Dunham said, “this concept reshapes the entire idea of virtual or digital foreplay.”

Image sources: opensource.com, OhMiBod

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.