Robot martial arts performance shows unprecedented physical agility and control

From Robbie the Robot lurching across alien terrain waving jerky arms to warn Will Robinson of impending danger, to videos teaching kids to dance like a toy robot, anyone who hasn’t been raised by wolves knows how robots are supposed to move: stilted, awkward, and clumsy. And though modern humanoid robots do a lot better through advanced engineering and artificial intelligence, they can still bump into mirrors, fall down, fail at breakdancing—and worse—even after countless hours of training and programming.

But a flawless performance of martial arts, featuring dozens of young Kung Fu and Wushu students sparring with dozens of nimble Unitree GE1 robots—wielding swords, poles, and nunchaku—has startled the world and demonstrated the dominance of China’s robotics industry. Suddenly moving like a robot looks more like a polished Cirque du Soleil performer!

The performance aired live during China Media Group (CMG’s) Spring Festival Gala, said to be the most televised event in the world, watched by billions. It sparked breathless commentary—and probably competitor envy—from around the world. Dr. Julia McCoy, founder of AI training company First Movers, used her own AI clone to describe “dozens of humanoid robots performing drunken fist martial arts, doing kung fu in perfect synchronization, executing 3-meter aerial backflips on live television, now fully autonomously, in front of 1 billion people.”

The gala also featured child-sized robots from another company in a comedy sketch, and also included a robot clone of the human grandmother character.

So what does this have to do with sex?

Use your imagination, but not for much longer

China is also home to innovations in sex dolls, featuring expressive movements in face, body, and artificial genitalia, naturalistic skin, heating, and AI capacities such as voice and chatbot conversation. Their mostly female appearances are designed to be ultra-glamorous, but the dolls as a whole do not yet move independently and autonomously. They can be posed but they do not wrap their arms around their owners, let alone hop out of bed to make coffee.

But since China’s mainstream humanoid robotics companies are designing for home and retail use, as well as industry and military—given the advancements just demonstrated by GE1—it is probably only a matter of time before the two industries join forces to create social robots, including the humanoid lovers of some people’s dreams. I’d be surprised if such products are not already on someone’s design table.

As M. Christian, our late managing editor, put it:

“Producing a robot capable of mimicking a human’s movements could still be a massive game-changer.  Even if their robots can’t function independently—or at least not for an extended period—it’d be a very small price to pay to have a walking, sitting, dancing, and so on artificial companion—albeit one that requires an extension cord to do so.”

But turning an autonomous humanoid robot like the GE1 into a safe, pleasurable sex partner suitable for home use is going to take a completely different kind of specialized training, won’t it? And who’re you gonna call?

A team of sexologists and sex therapists, perhaps?

RECOMMENDED READ: Look Who’s Feeling: New Haptic Tech Plus Sexbots May Equal Endless Erotic Possibilities

Human level dexterity, and then some

Let’s examine how some of the skills and movements demonstrated by China’s newest humanoid robots may be transferable or adaptable to sexual situations.

For example, Rebecca Chin, an accomplished Wushu competitor and choreographer, notes aspects of the performance that might elude those who don’t have her training, such as “in drunken style, you are intentionally putting yourself extremely off-balance and then just barely catching yourself.”

Julia McCoy was also impressed by the engineering required for the drunken fist sequence, made famous by martial arts star, Jackie Chan:

“And here’s the engineering detail that blew my mind most. The drunken fist sequence where robots wobble and stagger as part of the martial arts style required not just balance, but intentional controlled imbalance. That’s not a glitch, that’s a feature. The robots had to learn how to fall gracefully and recover fluidly, simulating a fighting style that’s built around the appearance of instability. That’s next level robotics.”

Bringing the next level into the bedroom

Think about it. Many sexual actions and positions can be awkward, off-balance, and require a certain amount of flexibility and ability to create movement work-arounds in real time. From a sexological perspective, these next level abilities—combined with the GE1’s autonomy and proprioceptive sensors—would be essential for an erotic robot in training.

Chin noticed something else:

“Something that I’ve come to appreciate is very difficult is the subtlety of waist movement in martial arts. The movement is so complicated in that it’s not just like you have your hips hinged forward and your legs move in a couple of directions. It’s really a coordination of your waist with your upper and lower body to get that smooth transition.”

Again, hip swiveling, pivoting, swaying side to side…very helpful for sex, even with an artificial partner. In the near future, robo-sex may no longer be limited to just the old in out-in out.

There’s more. How about the GE1’s dexterity, as demonstrated by its handling of martial arts implements? Manual dexterity will of course come in handy in other, more intimate situations.

Just…give it a face, already.

Eroticize, not weaponize

After witnessing the fighting skills and intelligence of the GE1 and Agibot products, many people are more worried than ever about robot warriors. I agree there is reason to be concerned about machines that can move seamlessly as a group while wielding lethal weapons and avoiding collisons with small children who shared the stage. I am sure the boys’ parents were white-knuckled through every rehearsal and performance!

Journalist Li Jingling’s compared the difference between this year’s polished performance with footage of Unitree’s 2025 human/robot choreography, which featured formations of GE1s waving handkerchiefs in that familiar stilted, robotic manner. You can watch most of the 2026 footage in her video, and see the difference in abilities for yourself.

Incidently, Unitree shipped about 13,000 GE1s in 2025, each costing about $13,500 USD. The 2026 models are certain to be even more popular.

Li says such rapid advances clearly shows China as “the world’s top level” in robotics. And Unitree is not the only top level robotics company in China, either. Four other companies, including AgiBot and Noetix, also showcased their robots in the 2026 gala, garnering public acclaim, funding, and government support.

In this, the Year of the Fire Horse, China’s robotics and AI industries have a lot to celebrate. Their achievements are rightfully a source of national pride. The only thing that might stand in the way of sex doll and robotics manufacturing collaborations in China could be a reluctance to tarnish the reputation of robotics industries should their technologies be incorporated into sex robots for home use.

I am not saying such an attitude exists, but it is possible. In any case, this is certain to be an interesting year for robots. Let’s see what happens!

IMAGE SOURCE: A.R. Marsh using Ideogram.ai

The post Smooth Moves: Are Bedroom Acrobatics Next for China’s Humanoid Robots? appeared first on Future of Sex.

How next-gen artificial companions could borrow a page or two from the Magic Kingdom’s Audio-Animatronics

If you’re a regular reader, you’re likely well aware of how many—sometimes wildly unique—approaches there have been to bringing a sense of touch to virtual reality experiences or, what we’re here for, giving synthetic companions ultra-lifelike, human-feeling skins.

Enter a pair of University of California, Santa Barbara researchers who’ve taken yet another angle: a display that allows viewers to feel as well as see what they’re looking at.

Though in its early stages, the work of PhD candidate Max Linnander and professor Yon Visell of the university’s RE Touch Lab could be what sexbot developers have been looking for—with a little help from, of all people, Disney’s Audio-Animatronics Imagineers.

Feeling the Future

Published in Science Robotics, the Linnander and Visell system employs a network of millimeter-wide optotactile pixels that, when struck from behind by a low-intensity laser, illuminate and—courtesy of each pixel’s built-in air pocket—produce a small but haptically detectable bump.

RECOMMENDED READ: Touching Tomorrow: High Tech Sensory Toy Heralds a New Era for Synthetic Companions

“I put my finger on the pixel and felt a clear tactile pulse whenever the light flashed,” Yon Visell told Futurity. “That was a special moment—the moment we knew the core idea could work.”

Yon Visell further explained that the technology was scalable, demonstrated by the team already producing an impressive 1,500-pixel screen; far more than any other haptic displays before or since.

Touching Tomorrow

Here’s where Disney might come in. You see, while for many years their theme park Audio-Animatronics relied on relatively simple mechanisms in order to perform equally limited facial movements, their famous Imagineers recently began thinking outside that clunky old box.

Recently patented—and already part of many of their attractions—rather than struggling to give their figures realistic expressions, they made them almost featureless, essentially blank surfaces given life by networks of computer-controlled, motion-tracking projectors.

All fine and/or dandy for static theme park attractions, though not so much for hopefully-movable—or perhaps someday fully ambulatory—artificial companions.

Agreed, we might be getting a bit out there technology-wise, but we might someday be able to marry the RE Touch Lab’s work with a novel take on projection mapping by swapping an external image source for an interior one.

For example, imagine our artificial robot’s skin as either a full-body haptic display screen, one capable of looking and feeling however you or anyone wants, or just a tactile surface with colors, patterns, and so forth illuminated from within.

Embracing the Possibilities

Obviously, the former would be preferable. But even if the technology is decades away, having a user-configurable, fully haptic head has a lot going for it. No less so, how, like Disney’s new Audio-Animatronics, it could do everything a human face can do without any of the distressingly odd, uncanny valley awkwardness of a mechanical replica.

Additionally, you would be able to change everything about it—color, textures, expressions, the list goes on and on—without needing to replace one head with another: merely tap a special smartphone app and, lo and behold, your companion can resemble whoever you desire.

And compliments of an advanced version of RE Touch Lab tech, it would also feel however you want. Probably the most challenging, as you would need to create a microscopic array of specialized optotactiles—kind of like how our tongues have different taste buds—in order to replicate as a pulsating array of different sensations, it’s still a possibility. Albeit one we may not see for a decade or more—a lot more.

As we like to say when discussing these and other exciting new haptic technologies, the RE Touch Lab’s work—or (ahem) borrowing from Disney’s Imagineers—may not get us where we want to go. In all likelihood, what will be is going to be a little of this, a little of that, mixed in with a hefty dose of good, old-fashioned creativity.

Which, when you think about it, has already helped us fulfill so many of our sexually futuristic fantasies—and, in the process, showed us there’s nothing we can’t do if we put our minds and especially our imaginations to it.

Image Sources: Depositphotos

The post Look Who’s Feeling: New Haptic Tech Plus Sexbots May Equal Endless Erotic Possibilities appeared first on Future of Sex.

AI? Check! Lifelike movements? Ditto! But what about what makes sexbots go?

From unaesthetically blocky humanoid robot prototypes incapable of walking across a stage let alone ascend a couple of stairs, to today’s elegantly strolling, seductively stylish Xpeng’s IRON model, it certainly looks like our dreams of super lifelike, fully autonomous, artificial-intelligence-driven, synthetic companions may be right around the corner.

But we have one unfortunately large technological hurdle yet to overcome. That is, in order to untether our wildest, independently functioning sexbot dreams, we need to figure out how to keep them charged—at least for more than a few minutes at a time.

Electric Avenue

Compared with making robots move less like machines and more closely resemble a sort-of-living, kind-of-breathing person with natural movement, and covering their inner mechanisms with a supple, lifelike skin, you’d think building a suitably powerful and necessarily compact battery would be a proverbial snap.

RECOMMENDED READ: Microsoft AI’s CEO Swears To “Never Build A Sex Robot”

The problem is power isn’t an exclusively robotic dilemma. The electric vehicles industry, for instance, has been struggling with it for years, and while companies utilizing lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) or nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) batteries are achieving truly impressive mileages, the technology remains far too big, heavy, and especially expensive for artificial companion developers to ever use.

With that in mind, it seems we might have two possible solutions. The first is to wait until technology reduces the cost, size, and weight of high-capacity LFP or NMC batteries—which may take so much time as to be practically impossible.

Electric Love

The other is to take a page from life itself by making tomorrow’s artificial companions move efficientlyas well as realistically—so they could function longer with much less juice.

For example, soft robotics swaps complicated arrays of bulky, energy-hungry mechanical motors for fewer, generally lighter, hydraulic systems that essentially mirror how human muscles work. Not only that, but soft technology also looks, feels, and acts more naturally. 

Meaning next-gen artificial companions wouldn’t have to squander priceless joules making—and likely failing—to make a clunky collection of servos and miles of wiring move like a human when soft robotic engineering can already do precisely that.

Then there’s the issue of their brains. As we’re growing increasingly aware, artificial intelligence hardware requires a lot of power which, in turn, needs another lot of cooling—resulting in even more lots of weight.

Of course, we might see the development of newer, more energy-efficient AI hardware in the not-too-distant future, or perhaps the software side won’t need so much of the former to run.

Nice to dream, but we also might take a different approach by making tomorrow’s artificial companions brainless.

Plug In Baby

What I mean is rather than cramming all those electricity-hungry chips into an artificial companion’s noggin, we instead take a page from another, already well-established, energy-efficient technology.

Ever use a Chromebook or MacBook Air? If you’re not already familiar, both are basically web browsers masquerading as laptops and while nearly useless without Wi-Fi, their minimalization also means they need far less power than their larger, hungrier brethren.

So why not use their approach and build artificial companions with high-speed Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, whichever is faster and more reliable, and not big, power-demanding brains? While there might be a few obvious trade-offs, like needing to have a constant, high-speed internet connection, they also might be able to do everything we want for hours or possibly days of nonstop use rather than scant minutes at a time.

She’s electric

Likewise, we could ditch batteries altogether—or at least not have to build them to do all the heavy lifting. Inspired by another, already familiar bit of household tech, why not construct our artificial companions with a bevy of well-placed induction charging points?

Installing them in … well, their backsides might be ideal as all they’d have to do to top off their batteries is sit down on a complementary-equipped chair or stretch out on their own charging bed. Though it might mean they couldn’t walk, talk, or do all the other fun things we might like them to do for days at a stretch, their considerably smaller batteries would make them lighter and more efficient.

Will we eventually solve the artificial companion battery problem? Of course, but if developers tried thinking outside their technological boxes, we might have them walking, talking, and loving us much sooner than later.

Image Sources: Depositphotos

The post Plug and Play: How Power Is the Last Great Hurdle for Synthetic Companions appeared first on Future of Sex.

Will you soon be able to own your own, unprecedentedly sophisticated artificial companion?

Xpeng, a China-based company specializing in electric vehicles, recently announced the 2026 release of what could be the most sophisticated humanoid robot to date. The robot features software modeled after science fiction author Issac Asimov’s legendary three laws of robotics, as well as lifelike synthetic skin.

The 2nd generation models continue Xpeng’s IRON humanoid robot intiative and were recently revealed during its AI Day event held in Guangzhou, China. The new models are less industrially blocky, more aesthetically—even sensually— appealing, and allow for the “customization for different body shapes.”

Big step forward?

The robots are intended to serve as tour/shopping guides and traffic wardens, but purchasers will also be able to customize their robot’s color and hairstyle, and additional clothing options planned for the future.

The Xpeng site also describes their robots as having “82 degrees of freedom throughout the body, its movements are natural, smooth, and flexible, capable of achieving catwalk walking and other high-difficulty human-like actions.”

RECOMMENDED READ: Touching Tomorrow: High Tech Sensory Toy Heralds a New Era for Synthetic Companions

If you’re worried they might be a little too advanced, Xpeng also made a point of saying their robots’ are encoded with Issac Asimov’s three laws: (1) never directly, or by inaction, harm a human; (2) obey whatever a human says unless conflicts with the first law; and (3) to preserve itself except when doing so would violate laws one and two with Xpeng installed a forth, i.e. ‘”Privacy data does not leave the robot” to maximize the protection of the safety of participants in the physical AI world.”

Or smoke and mirrors?

What has been revealed about the new IRON robots is certainly impressive, especially when Xpeng demonstrated their naturalistic fluidity. However, there’s a lot that hasn’t been disclosed.

Battery life is one aspect; aside from stating that they’re “all-solid-state,” Xpeng neglected to specify how long the robots can function or the time required to charge them fully. After all, we only see them moving relatively short distances and not interacting with anything or anyone, leaving the question of whether Xpeng’s next year release date is accurate or PR hype.

Not around the corner?

If Xpeng’s claims aren’t corporate hyperbole, we could be seeing a major turning point in the development of exceptionally lifelike artificial companions: watching how naturally they walk makes it easy to imagine the same sort of technology being integrated into any of the current super-sophisticated, anatomically correct dolls.

For instance, if we could attach a ReadDoll Harmony X head, with its eye tracking, head swiveling, and other sensually alluring features we might make one of our most erotically enduring dreams a reality in less than a year, two at the most.

Even if most of Xpeng’s promises fail to materialize, producing a robot capable of mimicking a human’s movements could still be a massive game-changer.  Even if their robots can’t function independently—or at least not for an extended period—it’d be a very small price to pay to have a walking, sitting, dancing, and so on artificial companion—albeit one that requires an extension cord to do so.

But maybe the next?

Likewise, should Xpeng’s much-touted naturalistic skin prove to be anything but, today’s synthetic companion manufacturers have already beaten them to it, having pretty much perfected giving their products the look and feel of lifelike human skin.

It’s reasonable to view Xpeng’s claims with some skepticism. But even if a few of their claimed advancements are delayed, we still might be witnessing a pivotal moment in the design and manufacturing of tomorrow’s human-looking, human-feeling, human-acting artificial companions.

And then, before you know it, humanity may have the benefit of such companions, whether we are ready for this or not.

Image Sources: ShanghaiEye, Depositphotos

The post More Human Than Human? Chinese Manufacturer Unveils Advanced Robot With Artificial Skin appeared first on Future of Sex.

An informative, entertaining, and thought-provoking look at artificial companions

Initially screened at the One World International Human Rights Film Festival in Prague before winning the Best Feature Doc at the Philip K Dick Film Fest in NYC—and featured at this year’s annual Love and Sex with Robots Conference—Jimmy Mehiel’s “Sex Robot Madness” is a remarkably thorough examination of their fascinating history, ongoing controversies, and how artificial companions might either prove to be a cure for today’s loneliness epidemic or, as several of its interviewees apparently fear, will result in humanity’s downfall.

Interspersed with Mehiel’s mix of humor and insightful commentary, “Sex Robot Madness” covers a lot of ground, featuring sextech expert Bryony Cole’s history lesson on where sexbots first originated; avowed sexbot proponent Dr. David Levy’s discussions of the emotional/sexual benefits they might provide; discussions with Professor Kathleen Richardson, the enthusiastically anti-sexbot activist; and Micah Gamboa, Executive Director for Elijah Rising, an organization aiming to eliminate sex trafficking—who are also against the technology.

In addition, we get to hear from Matt McMullen, the founder of RealDoll—who many consider to be the father of modern synthetic companions, as well as Joaquim Lousquy of the now-defunct Paris-based Xdolls brothel, and other important figures for or against the manufacture or use of these products.

“Tomorrow goodness knows”

Freely admitting to my own biases as someone believing as long as sexual activity is consensual, enjoyable, and emotionally/physically safe then more power to you, watching Mehiel’s documentary with Kathleen Richardson began to raise my blood pressure immediately—particularly her disturbing statement how  being online guarantees that, “We’ve got incels today, but tomorrow goodness knows what we’re going to have.  Do you know what I mean? We’re going to have an ISIS cult that feels it’s their right to have colonies of sex dolls and murder women.”

RECOMMENDED READ: Artificial Companion Designers: Time To Think Beyond Just Sex?

Gamboa seems to echo Richardson’s views that artificial companions are inherently dangerous—though with no credible evidence and plenty of positive personal accounts to the contrary—and Mehiel does an excellent job of letting Gamboa and Richardson’s true colors. 

Richardson, for instance, flat-out rejects that anyone could be happy with a sexbot and says anyone who says the opposite is essentially delusional. When asked about living in a world where artificial companions are an accepted sexuality, Gamboa replied, “I would love to see these sex robots outlawed. I mean, overall, because the utilizing of a mock person for a dehumanized sex act is not a culture and not a society that I want to live in.”

Sexwork, brothels, and try-one-yourself

Mehiel also delves into the parallels between sex bots and sex workers, examining how the former might help alleviate the pain and suffering of the latter—despite Gamboa’s protestations—and how Houston and then Paris seemed to take great moral pride in shutting down Xdolls brothels.

Impressively complete, especially given the complexity and controversy of the subject, Mehiel even rounds out his documentary by spending time with an artificial companion, trying to understand what the fuss is all about. 

Unfortunately, while an interesting experiment, his lack of interest somewhat undermines his overall message that sex dolls and their ilk may not be the world-ending horrors Gamboa and Richardson make them out to be.

Questions and answers

When I asked if he thinks the artificial community might someday become less underground, more widely respected, Mehiel responded: 

When do I think sex robots will become mainstream? If I really knew I’d be the trillionaire, but I feel confident saying it’ll happen soon enough that someone born today will have the opportunity to lose their virginity to a robot as a teenager—maybe as part of their health class. I actually think “sex robots” will be a really dated term by the time they go mainstream because when they do, they will just be, as McMullen says in the film, “robots that are open to the idea of sex,” and they will do WAY MORE than just boink you for 7–13 minutes twice a week. We don’t call humans “sex workers” just because they’re capable of sex—it’ll be the same with sexually capable robots. 

As for what inspired him to explore such a frequently contentious topic, particularly in light of the today’s socially conservative climate, Mehiel answered:

The biggest reason I thought making this film was worth the effort, beyond the massive personal riches and fame it will still surely bring me, is that up until now, people have been too quick to dismiss this monumental technology because it’s just “too icky and weirrrrd man,” and/or because it’s easy to make the mistake of judging the potential appeal and impact based on the limitations of today’s models and the currently perceived use cases. “How many people are really gonna want a computer in their house?” said everyone who didn’t buy Apple stock in 1980. If we couldn’t see where Apple was headed, why would we see this? 

Adding that notwithstanding others seeing them as some sort of ill-defined, existential threat, artificial companions are pretty much inevitable:

But people ARE going to want robots, and, at least some of the time, they’re gonna want to have sex with those robots. So we should educate ourselves (by watching my award-winning movie, SEX ROBOT MADNESS, obviously) and move on as soon as possible to the necessary debates about how we want to manage this coming sexbot tsunami as a society. 

Winding it all up

Not without its flaws, such as Mehiel’s humor not always landing and occasionally seeming a touch rudderless, “Sex Robot Madness”—which is available on YouTube and Tubi—nevertheless adeptly achieves its goal of discussing what needs to be discussed: the likelihood that artificial companions are coming and when they arrive, they will be here to stay.

And more than anything, we need to be open-minded, intelligent, and supportive towards them and their users—and refrain from condemning either for what we fear they might do.

Image Sources: Sex Robot Madness (YouTube)

The post Loving the Artificial: “Sex Robot Madness” Documentary Review appeared first on Future of Sex.

Some hits, some misses, and who knows what’s yet to come?

Science fiction has never really strived to be prophetic. Mostly the genre has used speculation to draw attention to social issues of the day; a funhouse mirror held up to mankind.

And when it has tried to gaze into a crystal ball, sci-fi’s track record is more than a bit lacking—to be polite.

Especially in regards to the future of sexuality.

But it’s fun to look at some notable books and films that tried to envision what sex would be like in the future. In other words, right this very minute.

A lot of things turned out to be flat out wrong. But what’s even more intriguing—and even more than a bit chilling—is what they actually may have gotten right.

If not this year but very, very soon.

Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner

John Brunner’s (1934–1995) novel Stand on Zanzibar (1968) is—at the risk of hyperbole—a phenomenal work: literary, complex, insightful, playful, and, despite having been written almost 50 years ago, this Hugo-winning novel reads as it if could very well have been written today.

Media oversaturation, runaway genetic screening, and monolithic corporations replacing government, the book depicts the world of 2010 as one that is both an exaggeration of the 60s and 70s, as well as alarmingly similar to what we’re experiencing now.

One thing that Brunner speculates on is the normalization of polyamory: consensual sexual relationships involving more than two people—to put it in overly simplistic terms.

While the 2010 of Stand On Zanzibar sees polyamory (as well as casual sex, homosexuality, and bisexuality, and more!) as such a common element of human society that it’s all but invisible, but in our current year it is only exercised by a small minority.

But that is changing—and very fast.

Not only are many scientists noticing a growing acceptance of polyamory, but they are suggesting that polyamory may be a remarkably healthy sexual option for many.

Studies have even shown that polyamorous groupings even tend to restrict the spread of sexually transmitted conditions (STCs), as opposed to people who cheat while in a monogamous relationship.

So while Stand On Zanzibar was not quite a perfect vision of the near future, Brunner may not have been that far off. Just give us a few more years.

Soylent Green directed by Richard Fleischer

While the New York of Richard Fleischer’s 1973 film Soylent Green it takes place in 2022 we might call this vision of a nightmarishly overpopulated world a complete miss.

Following Detective Frank Thorn (Charlton Heston) as he investigates the assassination of a high-ranking employee of the Soylent corporation, the audience is shown a world where human life has all but zero value.

In fact, and this should not come as a surprise to anyone, really, it is eventually revealed that the popular titular food alternative is … let’s let the famous line speak for itself: “Soylent Green is made out of people!”

While we are, thankfully, a little ways from cannibalism, another unique feature of this near future is how women are turned into “furniture:” literally property that comes with renting a high-end apartment.

Tragically, Soylent Green may not actually deserve a prophetic miss on this one. It is a global shame that even now there are an estimated 21 to 29 million human beings being held in slavery—and that 22% of them are victims of sex trafficking.

The 6th Day directed by Roger Spottiswoode

This sneer-and-kill Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle from 2000 is, firstly, set in 2015, and mostly, a play to many people’s ethical concerns about cloning.

Cloning is actually more common that you might think. In fact, we’ve managed to do it to quite a few animals—just not ourselves.

But while The 6th Day didn’t get human cloning right, there are plenty of incredible biological innovations that are right around the corner.

One of the soon-to-be everyday biological innovations is the idea of organic 3D printing coupled with a touch of genetic engineering. What this means to the future of sex is pretty mind blowing: for the first time organs, of any kind, will be able to be grown from a material that likely won’t be rejected because they’ll be made from the receiver’s own tissue.

Genitals may soon be a matter of choice and not genetics, as well as opening the door to altering them completely for any number of reasons: increased nerve endings, taste buds everywhere, and muscular control.The sky—and the erotic imagination—will be the limit.

I Will Fear No Evil by Robert Heinlein

Though many see this novel by the science-fiction grand master as one of his less-grand works, I Will Fear No Evil (1970) is still a fascinating read—especially as it delves into gender, sexuality, and the possibility of transferring one mind into another.

Taking place in 2015, elderly Billionaire Johann Sebastian Bach Smith, to preserve his life, has his brain placed in another person’s body. Two unexpected things happen: one, his mind ends up intermingling with that of the donor, and two, the body belonged to his female secretary.

This sets the stage of a very Heinleinian, though always entertaining, exploration of societal roles, biology, eroticism, and the differences —and similarities—between the sexes.

True, we can’t just plop one brain into another person’s body. But we are making some serious headway in making a direct link from one mind to another.

Just last year Spanish scientists managed to send the thoughts “hola” and “ciao” from the mind of a volunteer in India to three others in France—via email, no less.

Even though the result is pretty simple, the implications are staggering. The better we will get at understanding the brain—and the mind—the sooner we will be able to not just transmit thoughts, but maybe even move human consciousness from one person to another.

And what does this have to do with sex? Pretty much everything, actually: as eroticism is a mind thing, despite what our bodies try to tell us, this means that we might be able to timeshare vacations in the body of our dreams—especially our sexual ones.

Who knows? Maybe we’ll also be able to not just exchange but merge ourselves with someone else: sex taken to the ultimate level.

Strange Days By Kathryn Bigelow

For our last failed speculation, we take a similar neuroelectrical trip to just more than a decade ago. Academy Award winner Kathryn Bigelow’s science-fiction film Strange Days—though shot in 1995—visits the feverish chaos of Los Angeles at the turn of the 21st century.

Our burnt-out anti-hero, Lenny Nero (Ralph Fiennes), scrounges a living selling SQUID (Superconducting Quantum Interference Device) technology. Want to experience what it’s like to make love as a woman, jump off a roof, fall in love … you name it? Just use one of these illegal headsets and there you go.

While the plot is driven by a pair of ridiculously psychotic cops, the star of the film is the tech itself.

Sadly, 2000 came and went with no SQUID in sight. But, if you read just a few paragraphs back, there’s a very good reason to think that we may be doing pretty much everything the SQUID could, and did, do in Strange Days. And very soon.

After all, once you get information digitally out of a human being’s mind, there’s no reason why you couldn’t record it. We are already doing something like that with mice and rats. Humans, more than likely, won’t be far behind.

Sex, again, is where it’s going to be at. In a mirror to Strange Days, it’s not hard to imagine sexual experiences being sold to anyone who wants them. It could also leave behind so many sexual hangups that still plague humanity. It’s pretty hard to be prejudiced when you literally can see the world through someone else’s eyes—or mind.

Science fiction—books and movies—didn’t really get their future, our present, very right.

But for every miss, every embarrassing omission, there are more than a few that actually did manage to stare into their future … or one that just hasn’t happened to arrive just yet.

Image sources: Depositphotos

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