WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Fleshlight and KIIROO rolled out the world premiere of the most advanced teledildonic masturbator for online pleasure at the XBIZ 360 Digital Media Conference, presented by CECash, on Thursday.
The seminar on the last full day of XBIZ 360 drew a standing-room-only crowd that listened and watched KIIROO's Toon Timmermans and Robert Doombos' demonstration of the first interactive male masturbator using a Fleshlight sleeve and employing haptics and telepresence technology.
All of the seminars at XBIZ 360 Digital Media Conference were sponsored by NETbilling.
The next-generation masturbator called the Onyx Pleasure Core, capable of two-way communication online via WiFi and Bluetooth, has rings that contract to a pattern to mimic the movements of chosen partners. The Fleshlight sleeve was deployed in the Onyx to bump up the realism.
KIIROO recently joined forces with Flirt4Free to offer the devices for Flirt4Free live cam customers in an exclusive distribution deal. The Onyx sells for $249, while a female dildo that communicates with the Onyx sells for $149.
Flirt4Free President Greg Clayman said that the units will be available for order as early as next month.
"I've been looking at this type of technology for the past 10 years," Clayman said. "Me and my team have always had this vision of interactivity where a guy with girl or a guy with guy can actually go on a website with a model to not only feel but really get into what is happening and build relationships.
"[The KIIROO is] very user-friendly, highly thought out and uses the Fleshlight technology, quality and name, and now we are comfortable with this product for our customers to use on our platform."
Fleshlight's Brian Shubin noted that the product when used with the Flirt4Free live cams platform represents the future of porn.
"Fleshlight is very dedicated to these interactive types of devices," Shubin said. "It is a look at our future."
Another seminar taking a strong look at what's ahead, "The Future of Online Adult Entertainment," included a stellar lineup of some of the biggest names in adult entertainment on the web.
Ron Cadwell of CCBill, Ilan Bunimovitz of Gamelink, Mitch Farber of NETbilling, Steve Winyard of .xxx parent ICM Registry, Nancy Roberts of Adult FriendFiner and Spike Goldberg of Homegrown Films all gave their individual takes on where the industry is headed.
The panel was moderated by Greg Picconelli, who writes a monthly column for XBIZ World and is a name partner and adult attorney at Piccionelli & Sarno of Westlake Village, Calif.
Virtually, everyone's minds have been on Oculus Rift and adult content at XBIZ 360.
Piccionelli even said that there was so much talk about the virtual reality device and its applications with adult content at the show "that you could call this convention, 'Rift 360.'"
But Rowntree said that, despite all the talk of Oculus Rift's bright future in adult, observers should note that there has to be consumer demand and that 3D pretty much failed in the DVD market.
"Consumers need to get used to putting a device on your face," Rowntree said. "That's why 3D did not take off like it probably should have.
"It might not be in our generation but once there is integration of haptic devices and Oculus Rift, things could change."
Goldberg said technologies like Oculus Rift are necessary for adult entertainment to hold its allure.
"If we don't evolve we will die," Goldberg said. "We lost innovating in 2005 or 2006, and now we find ourselves in the position of constantly being behind the curve of technology."
Cryptocurrency, however, isn't the future for adult, all of the panelists surmised.
As much as it once held promise, it typically is a publicity stunt for companies to just get a press release out to the media. Most Bitcoin transactions aren't typically for adult entertainment, they are for large purchases like for cars, they agreed.
"The Great Battle: Future of Paysites in a 'Free Tube' Era" seminar took a look at how the most successful paysites keep revenue up in an era where tube sites have slowly lost their tread.
Panelists Kenny included Kenny of YourPaysitePartner, Spike Goldberg of Homegrown Films, Sam Rakowski of MrSkinCash and NakedNews, Joel Drappeau of Gamma Entertainment, Colin Rowntree of Wasteland.com and Jack Avalanche of Cherry Pimps.
"E-Billing: Top Strategies & Future Outlook" took a close look at new rules and regs facing third-party processors and those that facilitate merchant accounts in 2015, including new, and expensive, surcharges for chargebacks in the E.U., as well as new VAT rules for E.U. charges and new cards with an EMV chip.
Stephen Yagielowicz of XBIZ moderated the billing panel comprising Mitch Farber of NETbilling, Gary Jackson of CCBill; Frank Gannon of Epoch, Mia Zhu of Mobius Payments, Cathy Beardsley of SegPay.
The XBIZ 360 Digital Media Conference also included a discussion on the state of age verification in the U.K. by the ASACP, led by its executive director, Tim Henning, as well as a demo of the latest version of ClickcastX, an innovative CMS platform designed to monetize adult content beyond traditional memberships.
In several other sessions, Utherverse discussed Oculus Rift and the new RedLightCenter 2.0 adult virtual environment, and "TS Porn: A World of Its Own" discussed topics like trans porn terminology, marketing and brand visibility, as well as an outline of the various sub-niches within the industry.
AJ Hall's Elevated X also offered an informative workshop showcasing some of the best and worst examples of paysite building and design. Hall presented examples of common functional and aesthetic mistakes and best practices in efforts to maximize traffic and increase sales conversion rates.
Later in the evening, the 2015 XBIZ Awards, presented by Fleshlight and hosted by adult performer James Deen, took place.
The annual gala event hosted industry A-lists from around the world at the JW Marriott LA Live in downtown Los Angeles.
A recap of the evening's digital media winners can be found here.
