Navigating the endless sexual possibilities offered by AR.

The promise of merging augmented reality (AR) and sex is incredible. One day, if you wanted, it’s likely you’ll be able to enhance the physical appearance of your partner with the technology. Yours, too, for that matter.

If you wanted to invite your favorite adult performer into your hotel room, you could do that as well. In fact, VR porn studios are already working to bring this idea to life.

Augmented reality works by overlaying digital images into your physical world. While the field is still in its infancy, it offers the potential to project whatever you want to see right before your eyes, seamlessly blended into your environment.

Integrated with haptic technology, you’d also be able to feel what you see.

Google Glass was an early rendition AR tech. Microsoft HoloLens is a much-anticipated piece of headgear designed to immerse high-definitions holograms into your surroundings.

With all the choice that AR will offer, what will this mean for our intimate relationships? With SnapChat-like filters you could put over your lover or sex doll, or countless computer-generated holographic lovers you could pick from, how could this change how humans relate to one another sexually?

Sex therapist Jacqueline Hellyer talks about AR in the video below. In it, she examines the technology’s probable role in creating an infinite selection of fantasies and its impact on intimacy. The full transcript is posted underneath.

“I was thinking that there are many ways to have sex. There’s partnered sex and there’s solo sex. I think they’re both really important. You’re incorporating the idea of polysex with many people or I often think of pansexuality.

“You could create a god or you could have sex with a flower or a boot. The possibilities for human creativity are just endless. You’d actually have some holographic boot that you were making love to that spoke like an alien in your ex-girlfriend’s voice. I mean, who knows? You could just create all sorts of fantasy.

“But I think one of the important things to realize is that there’s an element of sex that is about the fantasy and what turns you on, and then there’s the element of sex that’s about intimate relating with someone that you care for, to whatever degree.

“I think we need to be careful, I suppose, particularly for people that might struggle a little bit with relating with an individual, because that is particularly messy. It is actually harder to relate to your partner than it is to some hologram or a boot. Some people might go, “Well, she’s too much hard work. I’m going to stick with my boot.”

“So I think it’s important and I know that’s what a lot of people fear when they talk about the future of technology, is that—not that I want to be rude about guys—but it tends to be the guys that are blamed for finding women too complex. So they’re just going to disappear into this fantasy world of augmented reality or holograms with boots and flowers and women with tits out here. They don’t have emotions and that just makes it all so much easier. I think there’s a place for all of that but we’ve got to look at how it all works and how it actually augments intimacy connection as well as just getting your rocks off with boots.”

Image source: Robin Green

The post How Will Augmented Reality Change Intimacy? appeared first on Future of Sex.

As technology opens more and more channels for sexual communication, it’s also putting what we call “sex” up for reinterpretation.

You can have video sex calls on your smartphone. You can exchange racy messages with strangers in adult chatrooms and virtual sex worlds. You can, if you choose, even have good old-fashioned phone sex with your honey while on a business trip.

What’s missing in these scenarios is, of course, physical contact between partners. But does that mean it’s not real sex? Or do sex acts lie rather on a spectrum that resists easy definition?

We were lucky enough to hear futurist Marc Pesce’s take on the subject a while back at one of our Sydney meetup events.

Is virtual sex actually sex? Share your comments below!

TRANSCRIPT:
“I think what’s happening is that distinctions that used to be reasonably clear—not perfectly clear, reasonably clear—are just going on a gradient…because even when you are connected physically to another person, there’s still something going on in your head which is making that the hottest experience in the world, right?

“So there’s still always that side of it, that’s virtual and we acknowledge that, right? All the way to something which is, “You’re right. This is entirely your own scene, it’s entirely your own show.” In a way the technology is giving us more points on that scale, but that scale has always existed.”

Image source: Luis Hernandez [NSFW]

The post Virtual Sex: Is It Real Sex? appeared first on Future of Sex.

How long-term couples can dial up the passion with new technologies.

According to sex educator and therapist Jacqueline Hellyer, one of the most common issues that arise when talking to people in long-term relationships is boredom in the bedroom.

But sex tech, if used well, could help lovers explore each other’s fantasies and create more intimate and fulfilling experiences. The key, says Hellyer, is to make sure these tech-enhanced moments are interactive with your partner.

This sounds like good advice, especially considering a recent study shows 10% of people check their phones during sex. Another study, by condom brand Durex, blames “digital distraction” for getting in the way of couple’s sex lives on vacation.

To learn more about how you can use sex tech to turn up the heat in your relationship, listen to Hellyer in the video from one of our Sydney meetups. The full transcript is posted underneath

“I spend a lot of time talking to couples who have been in long-term relationships and one of the biggest issues is boredom. It’s always a challenge for couples in long-term relationships, is how can they keep their sex life interesting, and so forth.

“Like all technology, if it’s used well, it can really augment our lives and make it better. These days, I might encourage couples to maybe share fantasies, or read erotica to each other, or maybe watch something on the Internet, if that’s what they fancy. But it could become really interesting if you create some holo[graphic] experience for your partner and met them in there, “Well, tonight, I’m going to be Angelina Jolie,” and see what that’s like,

“If you did it in a way that was an interactive experience, because at the moment some people have normal standard sex, where penis and vagina, and genitals are meeting, but they are actually not there. It’s actually not an intimate experience. It’s just, okay, so your genitals are connected but your head is somewhere else in fantasy land. So even having real sex doesn’t mean that it’s an intimate experience, whereas completely unreal sex could be a beautifully intimate experience. It’s all about how you use it.

“It’s kind of interesting when you say the teenagers seem to be getting this hopefully, because they are growing up in this world of reality and non-reality, and they can use the non-reality. And maybe they’ll be better able to use these kinds of technologies as they emerge and just go with them.”

Image source: macadam13

The post Spice Up Your Relationship with Sex Tech appeared first on Future of Sex.

Mind sex and long-distance orgasms could be right around the corner.

How will intimacy change when you can literally get on the same wavelength as your partner?

We may soon find out with neuro-headsets that can record and send a person’s brainwaves to a computer. This was one of several intriguing ideas shared by futurist Scott O’Brien at our Future of Sex Meetup last month.

A leading expert in augmented reality, O’Brien spoke about the way new technologies are broadening our scope of the world, and in turn how humans may connect to one another.

In one example, he played a video of performance artist Marina Abramovic and interviewer Brian Lehrer wearing wireless Emotiv headsets. These devices— dubbed as “wearables for your brain” —use electroencephalography (EEG) to measure electrical activity.

Via the EEG headgear, a computer received each person’s unique brain patterns. Then, it displayed them on a screen to show when their wavelengths matched.

Stronger connections

For people in romantic relationships, being able to read and align your partner’s brain waves with your own could foster deeper connections and more empathy.

How many times have you been in an argument and felt like the other person didn’t understand where you were coming from? Or you just couldn’t grasp why something that seemed trivial to you meant so much more to someone else?

It can be challenging, not only to express one’s emotions but to have them be truly understood—even by a loving partner. However, O’Brien believes that in the future couples will be able to tap into this tech and use it as a bonding tool.

One day it may also be possible to read brain waves remotely. While your lover is at work and you are doing the groceries, you could get some insight into what their mood will be at home that evening.

Don’t worry, for people who want to keep their wavelengths to themselves, O’Brien envisions the situation as one you must opt in to. No one could access your brain patterns without your permission.

Long-distance mind-gasms

But what if you wanted to take it a step further? The technology isn’t around right now to send your lover a long-distance brain orgasm, yet in the next few decades it could become a reality.

Already, an orgasm has already been stimulated in a human through direct neural interfacing, says O’Brien. One incident occurred by accident during studies to predict epileptic seizures.

For people with mobility challenges or who suffer chronic pain, targeting the brain first offers promise for hot new sexual experiences. It won’t be necessary to move your body in a certain way in order to climax, or even feel connected to your partner.

You could share very real and very erotic sensations with your minds. With neuro-headsets, you may trigger incredible feelings in someone in the same room—no body movement required. And as technology advances, you could do this a world away using similar headgear or even brain implants.

Given the opportunity, would you exchange mind-gasms with someone?

Image source: Bruno Cordiolo, WNYC

The post Neural Headsets Can Align Your Brainwaves with Your Lover’s appeared first on Future of Sex.

Come along to meet other interesting “sex futurists” in the area!

Join us at our third FutureofSex.net meetup for a thought-provoking and entertaining evening on how new technologies are changing the way humans have sex, featuring world-leading experts Ben Moir and Scott O’Brien.

Come from 5:30pm for drinks and conversation, hear from our experts around 6:30-7:00pm, and stay afterwards to chat with other sex futurists in our Future of Sex community. Click here for full FREE registration details.

Meet our two experts and learn what they’ll be discussing at the event.

Ben Moir: Wearables and the Future of Sex

We might be curious about the rise of Tinder and how it has changed the nature of hookups and sex, but what about when you can connect with anyone in the world and have an intimate relationship?

We are entering an age where technology will allow us to experience the emotions and feelings of people on the other side of the planet. What happens when you create a mashup of Oculus Rift VR, Fundawear, Emotive, and Tinder? Let’s meet up in the traditional sense, face to face, to discuss the possibilities!

Watch the video below to learn more about Fundawear.

About Ben

Ben (aka Mr Wolf) is an engineer who was born to solve problems. He turned his focus to management 10 years ago because people are infinitely more complex and fun than computers and tech. He lives a double life: during the day he runs Snepo Research, a gun team of programmers and designers based locally in Surry Hills; at night he runs wearable tech company We:eX, based in New York with Billie his co-founder and in-house fashion designer. Ben lives by the motto, you can sleep when you’re dead…

Visit the We:eX to check out the exciting projects Ben is working on, including the Fox Alert Shirt for footy fans and Navigate, a line of location-enabled apparel.

Scott O’Brien: Assisting Sexual Expression with Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality

For the stressed and ageing population, off the shelf drugs have become a hero in the modern world of sexual expression. So how can assistive technology via Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and wearables rival off the shelf drugs?

How has the incubation of various technologies, originally purposed for space through to crowdfunded multi-sensory hardware for games and medical uses, ended up helping able-bodied and disabled people live better lives? Is beauty in the eye of the beholder or will it be a less poetic, yet tantalisingly accessible direct neural interface?

About Scott

As an Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) pioneer since 2009, and delivering what is still to this day the world’s most sophisticated cinematic AR eyewear experience, Scott O’Brien has been moving AR and VR from “magic show” to functional use cases and mass adoption. These days he consults worldwide under Augmented Reality OMG and organises AR, VR, wearables, and IoT events, creating amazing experiences.

Watch the video below from our 2014 Meetup to hear Scott’s fascinating views on how the “huggable Internet” is changing the game for remote sex.

The post Sydney Meetup: Leading Experts on Wearables, AR and VR in the Future of Sex appeared first on Future of Sex.

Smart technologies could decode and give you what you want in the bedroom. 

Do you ever wish you could have all your sexual needs met, without having to ask? That someone could just read your mind, and know all the sexiest moves that would just make your clock tick?

As artificial intelligence develops and becomes increasingly capable of learning new things (as we’ve seen with Google’s Deep Dream), it stands to reason this capacity will also extend to sex.

In fact, Abyss Creations, the makers of the world famous RealDoll, has already launched itself on this endeavour with Realbotix—a talking robotic head for a sex doll with  the illusion of sentience. It’s expected to hit the market in two years.

Beyond the corporeal form, AI and robotics expert David Levy is developing Erotic Chatbots Ltd. The company’s aim is to create a range of virtual chat partners able to flirt and have sexy conversations.

Also imagining a future when artificial intelligence can decipher and meet human desires is futurist Scott O’Brien. At our Future of Sex Meetup in Sydney last year, he predicted that not only will computers be able to figure out our fantasies, “we’ll want it, we’ll crave it, we’ll expect it.”

Watch the above video to learn more about digital mind reading for sex, and for some comedic anecdotes from the evening. We’ve also provided the video transcript below.

Featured image source: Johan Bichel Lindegaard

The post Sex and Artificial Intelligence: Will Computers Satisfy Our Fantasies? appeared first on Future of Sex.