Tenga’s Sex Sofa Sparks Insights into the Future of ‘Smart’ Sex Furniture

From ancient times to today's connected world, erotic aids are ever-evolving with technology.

Keeping in mind that no country or society can ever be objectively “perfect,” we still have to say that when it comes to sex and technology, Japan never fails to excite.

Whether it’s a man tying-the-knot with his virtual lover, developing a full-body immersive VR sex system, their passionate creation and enjoyment of Hentai games, or the invention of an erotic sleeping bag, the Japanese seem to be almost always pushing the envelope when it comes to sex tech.

So, what’s next?

Well, how about a Japanese erotic pleasure manufacturer designing a bean-bag chair to enhance the pleasure of its new masturbatory device?

By doing so, this company has raised a fascinating idea: we may someday be able to choose what toys to enjoy, and then even pair them with specialty-designed furniture to make the experience even better.

A promotions master

Tenga, the company behind this unique chair, should be a familiar one, as more than a few of its products, and the sometimes outlandish promotions around them, have appeared here at Future of Sex.

The immersive VR sex system and the erotic sleeping bag mentioned above are both clever ways that Tenga has drawn attention to its sex toys.

The sex furniture we’re talking about is no different: these bean-bag chairs are part of Tenga’s plan to boost awareness for its new Geo line of masturbatory aids for the penis-equipped. 

To be fair, the Geos are quite lovely: a series of three spherical toys, each with their own distinctive geometric pattern. Because of their elegance, they’re also proof that sex tech doesn’t have to be limited by only being a reproduction of a human body part.

A contest but equally food-for-thought

As with the erotic sleeping bag, Tenga’s masturbatory aid, unfortunately, isn’t available for sale. A few lucky people have already received their free bean-bag by winning the company’s contest, which expired on January 31st.

As SoraNews24 puts it, the prizes are “stretchy and malleable like the Geo products,” designed to be as “soft and fleshy” as the toys themselves. The contest winners are in for a treat!

Even though most won’t get a chance to experience these prizes, the contest has nevertheless teased us with the potential of similar products.

Not the first and definitely not the last

Tenga and its “masturbatory aid” is definitely not the first take on creating sex-enhancing furniture. While it’s daunting to trace the earliest examples of such devices, there are hints that they first appeared as far back as ancient China or India. 

Since then, they’ve become more and more popular, leaving the brothels and private sex chambers of the rich for where they stand now: a common item sold by practically every sex product retailer.

Their designs, too, have changed over the centuries, now including sex slings and swings, heavy-duty bondage setups, modified massage tables, kink-tweaked chairs and tables, and lots more.

One thing that Tenga has touched on with its promotion that hasn’t yet become a major selling point is how erotic furniture might be integrated with our ongoing wave of smart, sophisticated sex toys.

Networked and intelligent erotic furniture

It is almost baffling that this combining of the old and the very new hasn’t become more common, as the technology to do so is far from impossible to accomplish.

For instance, as so many devices can now be wirelessly connected to our smartphones, computers, and even other toys—in the same room or thousands of miles away—why not build furniture and household accessories that do the same?  

Beds vibrating or selectively heating parts of themselves in sync with our favorite devices? Low-frequency speakers embedded into upholstery to give a sensual rumble to erotic play? Virtual reality systems or high-resolution displays on gimbals to make using them effective and unobtrusive?  

Why not?

Looking at the Tenga promotion again, we could construct many inherently sexual items: inflatables, bean-bag chairs, even enhanced water beds that would be luxuriously soft and completely erotic. 

Lay on a bed that’s rows and rows of breasts? Snuggle between the cheeks of a huge ass? Sprawl on a stretch of rock-hard abs? Play with totally interactive phallic appendages sprouting from a faux-leather chair?  

Again, why not?

Our personal spaces might even be completely transformable: shifting from a relaxing home into a sexually surreal playroom where everything’s arousing can make sex with a partner, or partners, even more enjoyable. 

It’s on the way

Yep, we certainly like Japan, what with its frequent devices and products that challenge our preconceptions about sex and technology, and how the two can go to bed together and make whoopie.

This Tenga promotion might be signaling the beginning of a boom in merging furniture with sex tech: where our living spaces, and everything in them, could someday be as erotically stimulating as they are comfortable.

Image sources: Tenga, Clarence Risher, twitchery, Tomas