- Teledildonics
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Teledildonics (also known as "cyberdildonics") are electronic sex toys that can be controlled by a computer to reach orgasm.[1][2] Promoters of these devices have claimed since the 1980s they are the "next big thing" in cybersex technology.[3] "Teledildonics" can also refer to the integration of telepresence with sex that these toys make possible — the term was coined in 1975 by Ted Nelson[4] in his Computer Lib/Dream Machines.
In its original conception, this technology was to have been used for remote sex (or, at least, remote mutual masturbation), where the physical sensations of touch could be transmitted over a data link between the participants. A report in the Chicago Tribune in 1993 suggested that teledildonics was "the virtual-reality technology that may one day allow people wearing special bodysuits, headgear and gloves to engage in tactile sexual relations from separate, remote locations via computers connected to phone lines."[5]
Sex toys that can be manipulated remotely by another party are currently coming onto the market.[6] These toys sometimes come with prerecorded movies to which the toys' actions are synchronized by means of a previously-written script. Other products being released fit a new category called bluedildonics, which allow a sex toy to be controlled remotely via a Bluetooth connection. A report in 2008 suggested that teledildonics, along with text and email and webcams, can be used to "wind each other up to fever pitch during the working day" as a prelude to sex with a human during the evening hours.[7] New technologies can help people establish "emotional connections" via the web.[8] A book reviewer of David Levy's Love and Sex with Robots in The Guardian in 2008 suggested that teledildonics was "but one stage in a technological and social revolution in which robots will play increasingly "attend to our needs with magic fingers"; Levy argued that by 2050 "sex with robots will be commonplace."[2] Some products have been shown at the Museum of Sex in New York City.[9]
There also exists a DIY community experimenting with teledildonics, centered on opendildonics.org, the Slashdong blog and the Arse Elektronika conference.
See also
References
- ^ Stein, Joel "Will cybersex be better than real sex?" Time magazine, June 19, 2000. Retrieved July 23, 2008
- ^ a b Stuart Jeffries (reviewer) David Levy (author) (10 May 2008). "Love and Sex with Robots: The Evolution of Human-Robot Relationships (book)". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/may/10/society. Retrieved 2011-02-08. "we're in for a cybersexual revolution that will make the pill a negligible historical footnote."
- ^ Grossman, Anna Jane "Single, white with dildo." Salon, July 23, 2008. Retrieved July 23, 2008
- ^ Nelson, Ted. "Curriculum Vitae: Theodor Holm Nelson". http://hyperland.com/TNvita.html. Retrieved 2008-03-27.
- ^ David Rothschild (September 28, 1993). "High-tech Sex". Chicago Tribune. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1993-09-28/features/9309280044_1_cd-rom-interactive-computer-software-virtual-valerie. Retrieved 2011-02-08.
- ^ Lynn, Regina "Ins and outs of teledildonics." Wired, September 24, 2004. Retrieved July 22, 2008
- ^ Stuart Jeffries (9 September 2008). "How has The Joy of Sex changed since 1972?". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/sep/09/healthmindandbody.relationships. Retrieved 2011-02-08. "... Text, email, webcams, teledildonics can all be used to wind each other up to fever pitch during the working day prior to extended evening action ..."
- ^ Aleks Krotoski (6 February 2011). "What effect has the internet had on our sex lives?". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/feb/06/internet-porn-sex-lives. Retrieved 2011-02-08. "And the web is all about helping people establish emotional connections. Throw in some erotic imagery, augmented teledildonics technologies, or a bit of sexting or Skyping, and you have the makings of a rather extraordinary, albeit mediated, relationship."
- ^ "For Pleasure". Slate Magazine. 2011-02-08. http://www.slate.com/id/2121835/slideshow/2121919/fs/0//entry/2121918/. Retrieved 2011-02-08. "At a small and private teledildonics demonstration on June 1, 2005, sex writer Violet Blue, while in San Francisco, induced two orgasms in her partner, who was riding a custom-made mega-vibrator known as a Thrillhammer at the Museum of Sex in New York City. The event included a few technical hitches: At one point the woman (shown here at a different demonstration) knocked an electrical cord out of the socket. It seems that teledildonics—remote-control vibrator sex via computer—has a long way to go."
External links
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- Sex toys
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- Ted Nelson
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