In geek culture, one of the things that has always captured my imagination has been Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Holodeck. For those of you not familiar, don’t worry it’s exactly what it says it is. It is a room on the ship where you announce yourself and what you would like the room to be. And the room does all the other work. Everything is intensive, immense, and suddenly, no matter what you use it for, it’s very easy to forget you’re just a red shirt.
Now of course, it’s always captured my attention for all the wrong reasons. The possibilities are immense when the room can contort to your every desire, but the implications of what it could really do to society are already being seen with just the internet. Imagine what we would turn into if a little headset took us literally into another world, a world where you could be just about anything you ever wanted. The Holodeck being our goal, let’s see where we are with virtual reality today.
Tools of the Trade
Currently on the market is the Oculus Rift, the dream idea. It’s a surrounding headset with a video screen for each eye, allowing in no light and no other sound other than the video, using sound eliminating headphones. Videos and programs can be uploaded into playable files not unlike very basic apps or PS Vita®. Bought two years ago by Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg for 2 Billion US dollars, it is currently being sold to app developers and movie directors. It will go up for full consumer use in 2016.
It’s more accessible twin is based off the idea of cutting a hole in a cardboard box and making your own movie theater with your tablet. The Dive and Stooksy are visors with separate lenses, instead of tiny screens, that use your phone as a video screen. For 70€ instead of the Rift’s 310€ price tag (still cheaper than established tech like the IPhone and Xbox) you can essentially recreate the experience using cardboard and your smartphone.
The same apps are available for these visors and the same sets of videos. Though some developers have tried to break right into the weird and uncanny, many have stayed classic. VirtualRealityPorn.com is currently the only subscriber site for VR beginnings, but it’s taking advantage of being the only real player in the game.
In 2014, VirtualRealityPorn.com had around 25 videos, each around 9 minutes long with no real variation. Now, though the videos still primarily look like you hired an escort in a hotel room, they are full subscription length videos and the website is only moving full steam ahead. Like the idea behind some of the initial (horribad) attempts at filming porn with Google Glass, all of it is POV porn. But they’re already starting to offer variations on traditional POV porn like threesomes and female POV. And it’s a pretty awesome indication of the future.
What’s actually even cooler is that recently, VirtualRealPorn, working with Lovense, released two new toys that sync with the videos. So now, not only do you have female POV options but you also have “Max” and “Nora” which sync up to the actors movements and bodily contact. And it works with all the videos they already have, so your subscriber selection isn’t lessened at all. That’s right everyone, you heard me. Interactive dildos. The future has spoken, people.
When this started, there was nothing for women. Many of the initial looks a year or two ago bashed the product for being so fully into the Uncanny Valley and having no real options. But I think by the time the Oculus is ready for full release this time next year, they’ll even have games and other experiences besides porn and some views of the English countryside. Not that those are bad things, they just need to raise the bar if they want me to buy something that costs the same as an Xbox.
A Viewfinder for the Future
I think Virtual Reality may be the door we need to break out of “boy” and “girl” product types. There are many different sexualities and preferences and I think the industry could only benefit from moving its intended demographic. VirtualRealPorn is moving in this direction and it needs to stay in motion.
Now, I haven’t personally gotten to try out any of this tech. I think it would be an incredible experience, but short of buying it there’s no way to really try anything out. The good people at Complex allowed a wide variety of old people, millenials, and rap stars to try out one of the sample videos and I think the reactions are exactly what you’d expect: mild revulsion, excitement, confusion, embarrassment, and anticipation.
Those people who would be into it are totally into it and trying to hide it because they’re on camera and those who aren’t into porn are startled and disturbed by how close they are suddenly to a set of boobs. The videos you can watch for yourself using the links above, but honestly I’m excited for the technology just by watching everyone’s reaction. And these people don’t even know about the optional equipment. I think, in these video reviews, my favorite reaction is from one of the millennial girls. She’s totally uninterested in the beginning blow job and only makes observational comments. And then, once you switch to female POV she’s distinctly more interested in the technology and what it can do for her.
A Stroll into the Valley
Viewing VR porn seems to be being offered as an experience, something you take the time to sit and do. The age of technology has turned porn viewing into something completely different and I’m not really sure what’ll happen when those two collide. I’m willing to change my 10 videos flipped through in 20 minutes attitude for a completely new experience, but I think it’s also a worthy concern that people may try to tune this new technology to their already existing, fast paced habits.
On the other-end of that spectrum is the ever present worry that we’ll all turn into VR junkies. We’ll cease actually living and just stare off into virtual space or the Matrix will take over or something else awful will happen. To that I say, so be it. Humans make their own choices and if that future happens, we’ve obviously chosen it. Progress shouldn’t stop for fear of something that will only happen with a lack of self-control and/or alien tech. There are worse ends for humanity to face, I think.
To be honest, it’s not really a question of if we’ll take the path to the Uncanny Valley, bypassing all those cryptic warnings written on the walls. The question is which path and where will it lead us? 3D porn as it stands seems like it would be the easiest thing to port into virtual reality, especially with 3DX Chat and other resources like it. But when and how does it become more realistic? As is, the body proportions are disoriented in the videos we do have and those are of real people. But the doors to the future and its valley of the unknown are open and those behind those doors seem to understand that girls want the same nerf guns as boys do, not ones that are pink, weaker, and easy to spot.
As people, we’re only really ever interested in what’s going to serve us best. The millennial girls in the video are a perfect example. By being inclusive, this technology has the potential to do anything. Sure, we don’t have levitating skateboards, but we have air compression cars and porn star interactive dildos. And I think that’s close enough for now.
HellSpawn214
June 11, 2015By the phrase “rise in god complex” I meant people will start developing superiority complex, you are right there is always some retard who thinks technology is evil just because people are misusing it. You gave very relevant example of video games being addictive but as you know people argue whether games should be banned as they gave rise to violent tendencies (not applicable to every FPS gamer IMO) but when I compared VR to drugs I was talking about the level of immersion non conventional or first time user experiences, for example average person who doesn’t play any games will be attracted and influenced by next gen games w.r.t. 8bit video games. I myself play games as if I’m high as kite 😛 :D. The way I’m presenting my argument sure makes VR tech look bad but if you see the sex doll documentary there you will see the extreme abuse those dolls were put through and the real helpless victims of sexual violence, there re countless examples how people oppress weak. These things happen because criminal have superiority or god complex. Also even if you play VR FPS the game AI can shoot at you but in VR porn you are the one doing the stuff you want to other person (which requires consent in real life or it is rape if I’m not wrong). Bottom line – people with lesser intelligence or empathy won’t be able to control themselves because of the new found audacity. Btw watch Hannibal 3rd season just started also if you like gaming look out for Cyberpunk 2077, thanks for the strange days tip I will watch it.
HellSpawn214
June 5, 2015btw that girl’s expression is priceless lol.
HellSpawn214
June 5, 2015Sci-Fi stuff takes the whole concept to new level, in Ex Machina some dude created his own Robo-AI 50 shades type hitech crib in mountains and in Blade Runner Harrison Ford hooked up with AI :P. I remember a scene from movie Minority Report, there some guy want to kill his boss and he has a video or a picture of his boss and he goes to this VR cafe/brothel to get his jollies. But we don’t necessarily need VR tech to get off we have special power of imagination (or Japanese dolls I cant speak for everyone :P). Imagine the social impact these things will have, its like giving monkeys hand grenades. Don’t get me wrong, VR tech+Bio feed back tech will provide superior kick compared to conventional porn which will be very close to the real thing, this will certainly create new levels of addictions for example pot:LSD::1080p:VR. Imagine BDSM VR experience, its like giving a crash course “How to be serial killer for Dummies” for the “monkeys” among us. People masturbating to porn know the experience is not real at some level, but this technology will lead to rise in god complex (see the documentary about sex dolls). Ask yourself how many narcissists do you meet daily? at some level I feel this will lead to either rise in sexual violence or erectile dysfunction (everybody can bang whomever they want, people will farm babies like matrix lol). I love porn but lets be real we all live in superficially conservative society, you know what I’m talking about.
Bianca Rose
June 7, 2015You’re right, we definitely live in a superficially conservative society. No two ways about that. The porn industry is one of the highest grossing industries in the world and still, it remains unregulated and the workers within it sometimes not even considered actual employees. And the oculus does have other options and games, but really the porn industry is handing it money, so it goes forward much faster. As I mentioned Elle is one of the first actresses completely on VR, but that doesn’t mean that if it premiers at E3 that there aren’t going to be alot more. Yes, it could evolve into a “god complex” I suppose, but people also called trains steam driven devils that would take your immortal soul and we all got over that. The addictions you mentioned already exists with video games. At college, I saw countless guys playing video games high as a kite. We can’t stop what people do with technology, that’s human nature and free will and if those people waste their lives, is that really the creators fault? That’s a whole other debate. There’s an excellent flick starring Ralph Fiennes on Netflix called “Strange Days” that deals with the VR possibility in an interesting way, I think you’d find it interesting.