Justin Lehmiller, a social psychologist and research fellow at the Kinsey Institute for sexual behavior studies, recently sat down with the host of “The Future of Everything” podcast to talk about how advances like virtual reality and robots may become regular components of sex.
Sextech has the potential to improve people’s sex lives, Lehmiller said, as well as breach privacy and consent standards.
Among current sextech on the market are sex robots, hands-free pleasure devices, long-distance kisses (via prosthetic mouths for couples), and a pillow that can transmit a heartbeat, according to an article in The Wall Street Journal.
Scientists are working on an orgasm implant, which could be a boon to people with disabilities or who’ve never reached climax.
The future of sextech isn’t just about sex, however, intimacy can also be achieved with the help of technology. Robots will be able to hold hands and present comforting behaviors, Lehmiller said.
One way sextech will likely help people in the future is by satisfying the desire for novelty. People crave newness and bond over sharing those experiences with other people, Lehmiller said. Sextech has the potential to provide couples with many new stimuli.
But sextech could become a “crutch,” Lehmiller warned.
“The threat is that it turns into a crutch — slightly than attempting to domesticate fulfilling sexual experiences, folks will go proper for the climax,” Lehmiller said.
Read the Wall Street Journal’s interview with Lehmiller at wsj.com.
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