Transforming Touch: Nanobots and Liquid Sex Toys

Robot-infused gel could emerge as a sexual savior for some.

Take a look at the offerings of the myriad of sex devices available and you will find erotic advances in every shape, size, and texture possible. But what if those measures became irrelevant? What if sexual products were no longer fixed to particular dimensions, but rather realized those essential pleasure shapes through feeling?

With a significant emphasis on elements of virtual reality and nanotechnology, the new future of sex devices is shaping up to be shapeless. Instead of choosing sex devices based on three-dimensional preferences, you, your distant partner, and possibly your adult entertainment choices, could instead choose the sensations you’d wish to receive via a gel filled with microscopic robots.

That’s right. Wherever you are, you might be able to pour some liquid love on whatever part of your body you’d desire and then feel the power of naughty nanobots working sexual magic across your skin. Because the power of this gel is fairly speculative, at this point, there really is no telling what kinds of pleasure the microbots would be able to provide. It could be they would provide direct tactile stimulation or perhaps interact with other technologies, such as virtual reality, to fashion the user with body specification beyond their own.

Touchless orgasms

This bold new direction in sexual fulfillment might still be a long way off, but it is one of the many different initiatives being explored at this year’s FutureFest in London. With many wide-ranging discussions encapsulating the themes of work, thrive, play and love, specific space is being made for conceptualizing future sexual technologies.

Ghislaine Boddington, body technologist and curator of the love theme, speculated on the potential in two people, whether close by or far apart, to use the gel at the same time. It could connect lovers online by exploring erotic potential without touch.

“You could respond to each other through the gel—you would feel each other’s orgasm and enhance it,” she told The Independent. “It’s a way off but there is some pioneering work being done out there.”

This line of thinking is the main focus of most sex devices, past, present, and, it seems, in the future. However, a different line of thought could see this technology realize a broader application.

Expanding sexual expression and diversity

In the description of her theme at FutureFest, Boddington acknowledges that explorations of love and sex will necessarily include many different gender and sexual diversities. As we grow our understanding beyond binary expectations and simplicity, the world of sex and pleasure must open up to include a variety of expression.

Emergent technologies such as nanobot gel, as Boddington explains, “could also help people to access groups, for example gay or transexual communities, in places where there is repression or it is simply difficult to meet others.” Yes, it could let you reach out and be touched by someone…but what if they can “change” you?

If nanobots and gel can replicate the sensation of a lover’s orgasm, could they also replicate the sensation one would feel from particular body parts you do not possess? As we learn more about transgender people, the binary or pre-op/post-op is disappearing. Trans folk should feel welcome to express their gender in whatever way they are comfortable with. This may or may not include top or bottom surgery. Being fine with one’s own body is the key.

Augmenting sex and identity without surgery

However, this does not mean the desire to “feel” other bodily sensations isn’t there—and nanorobot gel could be the link between body and sensation connection. Surgical advances are increasing the efficacy of gender reassignment, but we’ve learned that surgery is not always the needed outcome for some transgender people.

And with Boddington’s belief that we will be embracing multiple gender and sexual diversities, surgery may wane if technology can provide satisfaction. This is, of course, only referring to sexual interests and being transgender is not just about sex. However, it is one piece of our evolving social puzzle.

There are further applications to this idea beyond the transgender community. Gel and nanobot technology could improve the sex lives of those who have suffered an injury or other types of reduced sensation. It could be used to explore fetish and other types of stimulation. One handful of robots could expand our view of sexuality in so many ways.

As Boddington says, we’re going to have to wait to see if this and other fantastical sexual devices and technologies actually arrive—possibly for many years. However, that this type of thinking is even happening offers much hope.

Image source: Daniel Smith