A Glimpse at Sex Tech in 2018

Although 2018 is still a mystery, we can predict a few things that may impact sex tech in the coming year. The following sex bits and news briefs may impact sex and technology as well know it in 2018.

Dazed Digital took a deep dive at Sex Tech Hackathon II. The “sex tech hack” took place at London’s Goldsmiths College. It was led by Dr. Kate Devlin, an academic. The event “pulled together 50 hackers from across the world for a second year of reworked hardware… responding to themes of intimacy, accessibility and [personalization],” Dazed Digital reported.

SuCUMb

If you have vivid fantasies that happen in very specific settings—a rainforest, a pool, etc.—or allow you to “transform” into different forms, SuCUMb may be for you.

SuCUMb was created to satisfy people with very niche masturbation fantasies. SuCUMb works like this: A person lays on a surface that’s covered “with a custom blanket filled with responsive vibration sensors, [and a] VR-powered large-scale mirror installed in the ceiling,” Dazed Digital explained.

“… Users can see themselves floating in an outdoor pool, for instance, whilst the blanket simulates the feeling of raindrops falling on their body,” added Dazed Digital. “Or they can view their bodies transformed into a cloud, with people walking through them, the sensation (somehow) translated into vibrations that take you out of your body.”

Softdongs

This interesting and groundbreaking piece of technology can help people create their very own packer, also known as a prosthetic penis. According to Dazed Digital, “some transmasculine people [use these] to ease gender dysphoria.”

Softdongs let’s a person pick the girth, length, color and scrotum size of their genitalia. Once all decisions are made, “Softdongs will print a 3D mould to create a totally personal silicone packer,” Dazed Digital reported. The packer can then be used to create a bulge.

SenseME

SenseME is a bed that could double as a partner. The bed essentially uses air pressure to create the feeling of being “squeezed” or “held.” Once a person lays down on SenseME, soft hollow plastic adjust “to grip the waist, crotch, and ankle, effectively hugging and stroking your body,” Dazed Digital explained.

SenseME also will respond to the user’s voice. When you moan louder, it squeezes more. But if you stop moaning, it let’s go of your body.

Vibroverse

Vibroverse is, essentially, a sex game that allows you to indulge your fetishes and masturbate without your hands. All a user has to do is put on a VR headset and look at the random objects—body parts, food, textures, etc.—the game begins to show the person.

“If you lock eyes with a particular object for more than a few seconds, the game replicates more of that object as it registers it as your ‘preference,’ thus creating a world increasingly peppered with whatever turns you on,” reported Dazed Digital. “As the visual density of your fetish increases, vibration pulses are sent via Bluetooth to your sex toy – so the more you look at the object, the stronger the vibrations get.”

AI-assistated porn

Although the following concept wasn’t part of the sex tech hack, it is something that we’re monitoring.

People are now able to use AI software that can create fake porn that uses the faces of whomever. This was discovered toward the end of 2017.

According to Motherboard, a Redditor known as deepfakes “used AI-assisted tools to create a video of Gal Gadot having sex with her brother,” Dazed Digital reported.

The user was able to do this by face swapping Gadot’s face “onto the body of a porn performer using a machine-learning algorithm. Although the effect achieved is far from perfect, it is convincing enough. And it poses a potential threat to just about anyone.”

This action also could be used to create non-consensual sexual imagery of just about anyone.

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Abbie Stutzer is a writer and editor from Lawrence, Kansas. Find her on Twitter at @abbiestutzer and on Insta at @abbiestutzer. Email her at abbie@ynotcam.com.