Future of Sex
tagline
  • Remote Sex
  • Virtual Sex & Entertainment
  • Robots
  • Human Augmentation
  • Sex Tech
  • Dating & Relationships
  • Bizarre Bazaar 18+
  • Future of Sex Community
  • Remote Sex
  • Virtual Sex & Entertainment
  • Robots
  • Human Augmentation
  • Sex Tech
  • Dating & Relationships
  • Bizarre Bazaar 18+
  • Future of Sex Community
  • Policing Intimacy: AI Companion Apps Are Removing NSFW Features, and People Are Not Happy

  • The Future of Sex Is Non-binary Genital Surgery That Advances Bodily Agency

  • Is Equity Crowdfunding the Future of Sex Tech Investment?

  • Sex Tech News: New VR Sex Game, a User-Generated Erotica App and ‘Porn for TV’ Streaming Relaunches

  • Blyynd Brings on Investors to Build Anonymous Sexting App

  • A Fitbit for the Penis? The FirmTech Tech Ring Product Review

  • Sex Tech at CES 2023: 6 Brands Exhibited, Including an Anonymous Sexting App

  • Sex Tech Mixers, Hackathons & Conferences [UPDATED]

Future of Sex is supported by our readers. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Home > Robots > Soft Robotics May Be the Future of Artificial Companions

Robots
Home›Robots›Soft Robotics May Be the Future of Artificial Companions

Soft Robotics May Be the Future of Artificial Companions

By M. Christian
May 19, 2021
458
0

Shadows could be the key to more responsive androids.

Image of a Hand Touching Soft Sensor

A research team at New York’s Cornell University developed a novel approach to equip robots with a sense of touch. This technology may provide the next generation of artificial companions with a way to interact with their owners far more realistically.

The growing popularity of soft robotics

Cost has been the least recognized of all the struggles that scientists have so far had to face when trying to provide robots with a way to physically detect human beings. In the past, haptic technology has typically required a considerable array of expensive tactile sensors.  

A potential way to sidestep this problem lies with soft robotics, where a system of air or liquid-filled inflatable bladders takes the place of the usual servomechanism, interior skeleton, and heavy outer covering. 

Some people believe that this technology is the future of sexual robotics. Soft technology has a lot going for it when it comes to making realistic artificial companions or sextoys, because it replaces a hard body with a pliant one.

Depending on the design, soft robots can also be semi-transparent: a fact that got Guy Hoffman, the Mills Family Faculty Fellow and an associate professor in the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and his team at Cornell’s Human-Robot Collaboration and Companionship Lab thinking.

Using shadows and soft robotics to predict touch 

The Cornell team came up with the idea to use cameras embedded in their soft robot prototype to detect shadows. This would allow the robots to predict when they were about to be touched.

Speaking to The Cornell Chronicle, Hoffman explained that a lot of work remains. For example, the technology needs a clear line-of-sight between the interior cameras and the inner surface of the robot’s skin. However, he expressed hope that this unique take on the problem of haptic technology could inspire others to think outside the haptic box.

“These constraints could actually spark a new approach to social robot design that would support a visual touch sensor like the one we proposed,” he said.

Hoffman also outlined where he’d like to take the experiment next, “In the future, we would like to experiment with using optical devices such as lenses and mirrors to enable additional form factors.”

Come on, give us a hug

A Scene from Big Hero 6 Baymax Comforts Hiro

Another benefit to using soft robotics for artificial companions: they would be extremely huggable.  

After all, no matter how well-engineered and manufactured, sexbots and the like have the same, universal hurdle to overcome. Although they may look a lot like us, they don’t feel quite the same.

This uncomfortable artificiality is mostly due to how robots are constructed. With all those cogs, gears, and a reinforcing framework, you’re more than likely to have the impression of hugging a steel skeleton thinly wrapped in a layer of artificial skin.

There are sexdolls that more closely approximate human beings, but they do so at the cost of not being unable to move very much.

Soft robotics, along with the technology that allows robots to move more fluidly, would be far more pleasant to embrace.

Early steps, ample opportunities

Hoffman is not alone in his attempt to re-think haptic technology for robots. It often feels like exciting new developments in the field are announced every few weeks.

As with any technology, these are the first, tentative, baby steps. Even if any of them turn out to be a significant stride forward, there’s a high probability that they would be too costly to pursue commercially.

But every technology that eventually fails or is too expensive is still progress. Before you know it, we may have artificial companions and lovers that will not only see with their skin, but will be gloriously huggable, as well.  

Image sources:  UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, Narciso Bianco

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.

M.Christian's Books (Sizzler Editions)
M.Christian's Audiobooks
Previous Article

Free Download of Future of Sex Poster

Next Article

Dating App Culture May Be Responsible for ...

Related articles More from author

  • Robots

    Westworld: How Will HBO’s New Sci-Fi Thriller Depict Future Sex with Robots?

    July 22, 2016
    By Jasmine van den Hoek
  • Robots

    Sex Doll Soccer Fans Cause Uproar, South Korean Team Now Facing Ban

    July 14, 2020
    By M. Christian
  • Screenshot of LuxBotics Robot robot prototype movement testing
    Robots

    Lux Botics Founder on the Lighter, Sexually Autonomous Sexbots of the Future

    August 11, 2021
    By Bjorn Johnsson
  • Deepfake Technology
    RobotsSex Tech

    Celebs Aren’t Alone, Adult Performers Are Harmed by Deepfake Tech Too

    January 19, 2020
    By Sarah Paigee
  • A woman experiences pleasure while in bed.
    AugmentationRobots

    Can You Really Make a Woman Orgasm by Remote Control?

    March 14, 2014
    By Jenna Owsianik
  • Davecat appearing on the TV show My Strange Addiction
    Robots

    iDollator Culture: Inside the Minds of Men Who Love Dolls

    July 31, 2016
    By Jenna Owsianik

  • Dating & RelationshipsRobotsSex Tech

    Sex Tech Trends 2019: Open Relationships, Sex Dolls, and AI Will Thrill Us

  • Pleasure rebels podcast Hot Octopuss
    Sex Tech

    Sex Tech News: Apple Backpedals After Backlash, Hot Octopuss’ Headway into Disability Market, & Male Contraception’s Role in Reducing Poverty

  • A animation of a fair-sklnned brunette appears before a purple X.
    Robots

    RealDoll Upgrades AI App, Considers Expanding Sexbot Factory Due to High Demand

Virtual Lust is a 3D interactive sex game.
3DXChat
Discover the best virtual sex parties and 3D sex worlds.
  • TOP REVIEWS

  • Woman in blue lighting with yellow binary code projected across her face.

    Policing Intimacy: AI Companion Apps Are Removing NSFW Features, and People Are Not Happy

  • Porn for TV logo (computer screen graphic with pink u shapes and a mouse cursor).

    Sex Tech News: New VR Sex Game, a User-Generated Erotica App and ‘Porn for TV’ ...

  • The Blyynd logo with two screens. One has a chat screen and one has the sexual desire options listed.

    Blyynd Brings on Investors to Build Anonymous Sexting App

  • FirmTech Tech Ring

    A Fitbit for the Penis? The FirmTech Tech Ring Product Review

  • Sex Tech at CES 2023: 6 Brands Exhibited, Including an Anonymous Sexting App

  • What Vibrating Buttplug Support in a Video Game Taught Us About the Future of Webcam ...

  • Is Virtual Reality Dating Going Mainstream?

  • Sex Doll Brothels: Reality vs. Expectation

  • Replika AI Chatbot saved human marriage

    How Replika’s AI Chatbot Saved One Man’s Human Marriage

  • Meet the Humans Forming Romantic Relationships With AI

    Replika Romance: Meet the Humans Forming Romantic Relationships With AI

  • The future of sex is mind-reading AI that reveals your deepest, most unconscious fantasies

    The Future of Sex Is Mind-Reading AI That Reveals Your Deepest, Most Unconscious Fantasies

  • Sex Robots Are Getting Closer to Feeling Human-Like With Second Skin Materials

    Sex Robots Are Getting Closer to Feeling Human-Like With Second Skin Materials

  • R/gonewildaudio's gender inclusive audio erotica

    /R/gonewildaudio: An Array of Free, Inclusive and Categorized Audio Erotica

  • Fantasy Inspired Sex Toy by Tentickle Toys

    Out of This World: How Fantasy-Inspired Sex Toys Could Be the Next Big Trend

  • Virtual Sex in the Metaverse

    Virtual Sex Will Soon Become a Reality in the Metaverse

  • OnlyBans Game Play As A Sex Worker

    Play as a Sex Worker in New Onlybans Game

  • Black chess pieces laying across an orange background.

    Teledildonics and Chess: The Unexpected Possibilities That Could Enhance Sex

  • A couple with a woman sitting on a man's lap. They each are holding the Tenuto 2 with one hand.

    Tenuto 2 Erection-Enhancing Vibrator Rises To The Occasion

  • Woman looking at a laptop in a bed. You can see a blurry European city outside of the window.

    Here’s How Often Each European Country Is Searching For Sex Toys Online

  • A Woman Showing Her Smartphone.

    Disclosing Trans-ness on Dating Apps

  • Image of Emma the AI bot.

    Will Young Women of the Future Feel Pressure to Perform Like Robots?

  • Realistic Sex Games

    Review of the Best Sex Games and Most Realistic Sex Simulators of 2021 [UPDATED]

    0
  • Multiplayer Online Sex Games

    Review of the Best Massively Multiplayer Online Sex Games

    0
  • Sex Games for Mac

    The Best Sex Games for Mac

    0
  • foot-fetish-sex-games-girlvania

    Foot Fetish Games That Will Knock Your Socks Off

    0
  • The Best RPG Sex Games of 2021

    0
Fantasy sex game Dream Sex World lets you explore your wildest desires.
Multiplayer sex world Red Light Center continues to impress with its massive userbase and incredible sex graphics.
A blonde and light-skinned love doll face sppears next to the text Go now realdollxthe future is real.
  • 27KFollowers

Like Us on Facebook

Newsletter Subscription

Sign up for our monthly newsletter sharing the very best of the future of sex from our publication and others across the web.

DreamSexWorld offers a stunning XXX 3D world filled with incredibly interactive erotic experiences.

Like Us On Facebook

Facebook Pagelike Widget

RLC_ad_v2

Tweets by @FutureofSex
Future of Sex Report

Follow us

  • Home
  • About
  • ADVERTISE
  • Contribute
  • Story Ideas
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
© 2011 - 2022 Future Exploration Network
This website or its third-party tools use cookies to improve user experience and track affiliate sales. To learn more about why we need to use cookies, please refer to the Privacy Policy.

By clicking the agree button or continuing to browse through the website, you agree to the use of cookies. Accept Privacy Policy
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
SAVE & ACCEPT