HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Today’s teledildonics panel at XBIZ 2016 featured sex toy technology innovators as they offered their predictions of the future of interactive pleasure products.
Patent attorney Greg Piccionelli, who moderated the panel, began the session by defining teledildonics.
“It was originally a term that was coined to denote the idea of taking the effect of a dildo or sex device that’s controlled by one person and transferring that effect to another person so that it is controlled remotely,” Piccionelli said. “Over the years, it’s become a broader term to encompass sexual virtual reality where the tactile content is controlling the device with a code that is embedded in the content.”
The panel consisted of pioneers in the realm of teledildonics, including Ohmibod co-founder Brian Dunham, Intimuse CEO John McCoy, KIIROO CEO Toon Timmermans and Fleshlight COO Brian Shubin.
The panel agreed that this is the year that virtual reality is going to take off, however the technology is in its beginning stages. Similarly, while teledildonics are currently available in the pleasure products marketplace, the technology will continue to evolve.
According to McCoy, who said he’s been watching the technology evolve through the years, described the currently trending array of app-controlled toys as utilizing uni-directional technology.
“We see the future as being bidirectional,” he said. “It will work both ways at the same time and that it’s not tactile, it’s stroking and squeezing.”
Haptic sex toys would create more lifelike experiences, McCoy said.
“It’s getting more and more realistic,” Timmermans said. “More products like this are coming out and I think it’s great. We don’t want to be the only ones. I’m enthusiastic about the future.”
Timmermans added that there is plenty of growth potential considering that teleldildonics can unite the pleasure products business with the webcam industry.
Considering today’s tech-obsessed teens, the group also speculated about their future “relationships.”
“It will be interesting to see how they will handle their real-life relationships as they get more involved with virtual reality,” Shubin said. “It may even enter the dating world, where someone that’s not comfortable cheating on their partner may see this as an option.”
Using the movie “Her” as an example in which a man falls in love with an operating system, McCoy said it’s a real possibility today.
“I can see how an AI connected to a [pleasure product] can create a more and more authentic connection that creates the psychological connection and the telerobotic kinetic connection that creates realism,” McCoy said.
Dunham added, “It’s a real question, 30 years from now will people prefer virtual reality or real life.”
Dunham said that first time sexual experiences can define a person’s attitude towards it; and becoming tech obsessed at a young age may lead to less physical experiences.
“Kids that play video games — part of their life is virtualized at an early age.” McCoy said.
The panel said the future of teledildonics also includes the possibility of devices being able to control other devices. Timmermans said he’s had success with using the KIIROO to control other teledildonic toys. He said like with mobile phones that are able to communicate with one another, soon pleasure products from different manufacturers will also be able to.
