As we continue to make our way into the new millennium, it seems our ideas of what’s acceptable for public discussion continues to evolve as well. Take for example, sex gadgets. Until now, such gadgets have been pretty much for solo use, though some can be shared by people who choose to do so. Because they are generally used alone in private though, people mostly didn’t speak of them. Now though, as new advances in technology have come about (and more frank conversations about them appear on television shows) new kinds of sex gadgets seem to following closely behind. Take for example, the newly announced teledildonics device from a company called RealTouch Network. This company apparently makes just one product, and its sole use is to assist in providing sexual pleasure. The difference between it and other such devices though, is the fact that it’s meant to be used by two different people at the same time, over the Internet.
It works like this. One person physically manipulates a physical stick, or phallic type object, and because that object is connected to a sensor, all the stuff that the person does to it is captured and sent over the Internet to another device that is “used” by another person. The physically stimulative actions performed by the first person are then replicated on the device on the receiving end by the signals received over the Internet. Thus, if a person on the receiving end applies the device to their own particular body parts, they can “feel” what the other person is doing, thus receiving virtual stimulation from their partner.
So clever is this device that according to PC Magazine, the US military is considering purchasing several thousand of them for soldiers stationed in such far-away place as Afghanistan; for use between the soldiers and their wives, presumably.
But the fun doesn’t stop there, apparently, those that peddle pornography have figured out that it’s possible to connect the actions of actors with the device and record it all on a DVD, which can then be sold along with the device. Thus, users can bypass the part about having to have someone they know applying stimulation to the device, and once again go it alone, thought this time, with the illusion of actually being with another person.
This newest addition to the long list of ordinary sex devices or toys will no doubt be improved upon as time passes, allowing people on both ends to both send and receive, thus making the entire exercise much more fulfilling for both. Until that time, people will just have to be content with things the way they are.