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
  • 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]

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

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

Home > Virtual Sex & Entertainment > Is Virtual Reality Dating Going Mainstream?

Dating & RelationshipsVirtual Sex & Entertainment
Home›Dating & Relationships›Is Virtual Reality Dating Going Mainstream?

Is Virtual Reality Dating Going Mainstream?

By Michael McGrady
February 18, 2023
50
0

Would you date someone you meet in the metaverse? The VR platform Planet Theta wants to give a virtual avenue for finding love.

Is virtual dating going mainstream? Or meta?

What if we took dating further – to the virtual world? In adult entertainment, fields like pornography and live adult webcamming have evolved to encompass the VR segment in profitable models and evolving sophistication and realism. Virtual reality has steadily proliferated many other segments of digital life, so why not how we find love? 

More than a VR headset

The next frontier in virtual reality is dating and cultivating a romantic relationship. Considering the current metaverse technology, the conditions for virtual, emotional, and physical intimacy already exist. Some platforms already allow users to integrate virtual reality headsets with teledildonic devices to synchronize and deliver a near-full sensory experience, including eye contact, responsive dialogue, and pleasure devices corresponding to the actual sex act that the model is performing in the pornographic VR film.

It is quite revolutionary, especially given that these types of experiences are enabled by mass-produced VR and teledildonic devices connected by low-latency Bluetooth and the internet. With this, users have one component of dating – the physical – essentially taken care of. But, there is a growing interest in virtual-reality dating as a way to get to know a new person from a safe distance without disclosing too much information or to fulfill the emotional gap felt by couples in long-distance relationships.

Dating in the metaverse

“We are building a platform that is limited to adults only, and [we] are using an age verification system requiring users to confirm their identity and age through their government ID,” Aurora Townsend, chief marketing officer of FireFlare Games, said in a new exclusive interview with Future of Sex.

FireFlare Games is the parent company of an adult virtual reality dating platform called Planet Theta. Set to officially launch to the general public on Valentine’s Day in 2023, Planet Theta is a platform marketed as a place to enable the “right to love.” Townsend, also the company's founder, presented Planet Theta at the 2023 CES Convention.

Dating on the Planet Theta platform

“Our vision has always been to be the first VR platform built for dating,” Townsend added. Like other virtual reality dating platforms, users create their own avatars to represent their personalities and physical attributes. These avatars are fully customizable and are focal points to the interactions between other users in the application. 

Users, via their avatars, can socialize and flirt with each other in designated realms and worlds. 
All the while, users can engage in “micro-dates” (a virtual speed dating format) or socialize organically with others online. Journalist Amelia Hemphill experienced a micro-date in the closed beta environment of Planet Theta. The micro-dates range in format to emulate real-world scenarios, from hikes in the Enchanted Forest to coffee dates at virtual shops.

Mainstream adoption of virtual dating experiences

“We absolutely expect mass adoption, in a very similar way to which swiping apps on your phone have been mass adopted,” said Townsend to end the interview. “There are plenty of people who do not use swiping apps, just like [how] some folks will have no use for VR dating.”

This mainstream adoption of virtual reality dating might be something that Planet Theta’s team expects. Still, one scholar who studies anthropology and sexual culture sees VR dating as an augmentation to relationships but not a total replacement to the practice or to in-person dating.

RECOMMENDED READ: What Will Make Virtual Reality Dating Go Mainstream?

“VR dating is so new that I think we’ll have to wait to see what trends emerge,” opines Laura Johnsen, a Ph.D. Candidate in anthropology at Binghamton University, SUNY, in New York.

“But so far, it seems like all of the platforms are promoting different ways of self-expression that go beyond what we can do in real life,” Johnsen explains. “I think VR dating has the potential to become really popular for a few reasons. Firstly, I think people are frustrated with traditional online dating apps and want to try something new. We’re tired of swiping, receiving boring or inappropriate messages, and being ghosted. VR dating potentially offers a different experience.”

Image Sources: Unsplash, Planet Theta

Michael McGrady

Michael McGrady (he/him) is an adult industry journalist and professional based in the United States. He has covered adult entertainment, drug legalization, vaping, marijuana, digital freedoms, and civil liberties for several publications. He currently is a contributing writer for B2B outlets YNOT.com and YNOTCam.com.
Previous Article

Sex Doll Brothels: Reality vs. Expectation

Next Article

Brain Waves XR’s Multisensory VR Sex Needs ...

Related articles More from author

  • Remote SexSex TechVirtual Sex & EntertainmentImmersive Entertainment

    Infographic: The Evolution and State of Teledildonics

    April 5, 2013
    By Damon Brown
  • Image of the rise in audio erotica usage
    Remote SexVirtual Sex & Entertainment

    Audio Erotica Is the Hot New Trend in Pornography, and It May Be More Ethical

    August 28, 2020
    By Eva Duncanson
  • Adult star and business person Ela Darling in 2019. Photo by Glenn Francis.
    Virtual Sex & Entertainment

    Sex Work in 2022: OnlyFans Alternatives and Virtual Cam Models

    January 12, 2022
    By Jenna Owsianik
  • Ela Darling is a VR porn entrepreneur.
    VR PornVirtual Sex & Entertainment

    VR Porn Star Ela Darling Makes a Powerful Statement on Female Sexuality

    September 27, 2016
    By Alice Bonasio
  • Lovebox photo
    Dating & RelationshipsRemote Sex

    Forget Texting! Lovebox Is a Quirky New Way to Send Romantic Messages

    August 12, 2019
    By Miss Doll
  • Raspberry Dream Labs Virtual Reality Event
    Sex TechVirtual Sex & Entertainment

    Forget Zoom, Sex Tech Panel Heads to AltspaceVR for Virtual Reality Conference

    April 21, 2020
    By Sarah Paigee

  • Virtual Sex & EntertainmentVirtual Sex

    Revue: Les Meilleurs Jeux de Sexe en Ligne en Réalité Virtuelle pour l’Oculus Rift

  • Virtual Sex & Entertainment

    Nutaku Gets into Pride Spirit with New Queer Games

  • Robots

    My Sex Robot “Shock Doc” Presents Four Futuristic Fairytales

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

  • 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