VR sex robots are coming. Pun intended.
With the new VR Reality right around the corner, it does not take too much forward thinking to realize that robotics and VR are about to melt into one another in front of the tech fireplace over a glass of Pinot noir. Is that a sexy wine? I have no idea. Right now the technology is still rudimentary in its sexual applications like the beginning of Weird Science. For the moment, VR sex robots are in the foreplay stage. Soon though, Virtual Reality and sex robots are going to merge like
Well, they might already be somewhere near second base. The Real Doll company has been making life-like sex dolls since 1996. They are currently developing an A.I. head that can be switched out with the static heads on their current dolls. As delightfully morbid as that sounds, the A.I. head's purpose is to, according to RealDoll's founder and CEO Matt McMullen, "arouse someone on an emotional, intellectual level, beyond the physical." They are shooting for the severed sex heads to be ready in two years and adaptable with
Stanford University scientists recently used a robot from Aldebaran Robotics to perform a study in which the robot (that looks like a sidekick in a bad sci-fi movie) asked participants to touch its naughty bits. They did, and were rewarded with a zap in their physiological arousal section of the brain. That's right, humans were turned on by touching a robot that is about as physically desirable as a Snickers bar stuck to the side of a cement block on the side of the highway. So we know there is much more to a sex robot than just getting off with a battery and an electrode hooked into your genitals.
Apparently humans have to have a bit more than just a physical desire to be truly satisfied. Virtual Reality will offer a solution by creating worlds in which the psychological needs are met simultaneously with the physical needs. I mean, it's only a matter of time before your VR sex robot is telling you that you don't help out around the virtual house enough or that your VR cooking is terrible. I suppose a bit of domestication with your VR sex robot is inevitable. So is emotional attachment. You know, like how you feel about your Dakimakura. Just don't get too grabby. Show some damn respect.
"As AI and robots become more involved in our models of everyday life, I believe there will be a spectrum of emotional responses toward robots depending on their roles (for instance, caregiver, educator, industrial, companion, etc.) and individual user tendencies," says Dr. Julie Carpenter, a leading expert on human-robot social interaction in this interview. She believes that eventually we'll accept robot interactions with a sense of normalcy. "I think it’s important to note that just as robot design is not static and evolves, so will our relationships with robots."
As one area man told me in defiant contradiction with that normalcy, "Those sex robots are not looking for a commitment." That is, not until they enslave humanity.
So how will sex robots and VR mix comfortably? Because this does not look comfortable. Robotic breasts mixed with mountain climbing rigging mixed with a Fleshlight and a VR headset. Or there is VirtuaDolls, a similar device that has a VR headset and an apparatus for your junk. Yes, this too is another male focused sex automation. While I believe that everyone deserves to have a sex robot tailored for them, right now the industry is clearly focused on lonely horny males with money. The end result is that eventually, your VR headset will be integrated somehow into your sex robot, a seamless amalgamation like your TV remote and the dark recesses of the couch cushions.
VR collectives are already pushing towards shared VR workspaces so how outrageous (if not disgusting) is it to think that there will be VR sex robot brothels? I pity both the cleaning staff and the health inspector. VR sex robots are not going to be cheap, so those lonely horny bastards might want to start saving the money they find in the dryer in their moms' basement. Do you take your sex robot to Thanksgiving dinner? Or do you keep your naughty bits plugged into a VR sex outlet 24/7? What kind of impact will these devices have on society?
"Are computer viruses contagious? What if my smart refrigerator wants a threesome?" asked one area robotics expert. "I understand that if my wife wants one that looks like Brad Pitt that's just fantasy fulfillment, but what if she wants one that looks like our neighbor, Rupert? Our society is not yet ready for the mass production of Daryl Hannah in blackout eyeliner."
Rupert was unavailable for comment.
