Porn drives technology. It’s a simple truth that’s decided tech “winners” from VHS to Blu-Ray, and it continues to shape the devices and software that we use for decidedly more PG applications every day. Each technological leap forward has made our digital approximation of the beast with two backs (or more, depending on your personal proclivities) increasingly realistic.
Right now, we can easily find and buy adult toys – both insertable and penetrable – that use the internet to connect. We have vibrators that rely on text message content or the bass on our favorite songs to bring us to the big O. We have new genres of “POV” porn that adjust the viewing angle to enable us to better fantasize and place ourselves in the story – an XXX version of house staging at its finest. Knowing how far we’ve come – pun not intended – in the last handful of years, can we cross that uncanny, genital-shaped valley even further?
After all, it’s been the stuff of science fiction for years: porn that gives you both the visual and physical feedback of a real partner, on demand.
It’s Already Here…Mostly
As with any new devices, there are bugs to be ironed out, but we’re at the typical “launch point” for growth in a media delivery platform: namely, there are several viable players in the VR game and competition is ramping up. Right now, the leader and runner up – Samsung VR with 5 million units sold and the gaming-centric Oculus Rift with 3.9 million – are working with developers to bring more and more media content to their respective devices. The price point range is also a huge driver to early adopters – they can either buy the $99 Samsung VR and clip their compatible smartphone in to act as the screen, or they can take the nigh-$600 plunge and strap on the all-in-one Rift, complete with orientation “lighthouse” beacons that improve fixation and orientation within an active program.
As most porn vids – even choose-your-own-adventure style videos with multiple endings – are shot and served as a static digital product, the $99 VR represents a very attractive and affordable opportunity to truly experience adult entertainment. Porn connoisseurs have quickly grown wise to this fact, if Google is any indicator: VentureBeat reported in late June that Google searches for “VR Porn” were up an astounding 9,900% in the last two years alone. To paraphrase that famous line from Field of Dreams, as the tech companies have made it possible, so have the studios stepped up to the plate to deliver.
Porn Producers are On Board
In an embattled industry constantly innovating against genre fatigue and oversaturation, VR represents an increasingly rare chance to make the average porn customer sit up and take notice. Virtual Reality Reporter notes that there are at least 14 VR porn production companies, both domestically and internationally, leading the charge to make VR porn videos mainstream enough to snag significant market share.
So…What’s It Really Like?
VR porn adds an additional layer of experience to a viewing session, with the headset not only blocking out both visual and audio boner-killing distractions but allowing the viewer to “look around” as he or she is inserted into the video. The immersive opportunities are nearly limitless, from being a “fly on the wall” watching a couple get down and dirty from a virtual closet to being able to look around at an orgy unfolding in 360 degrees.
Without the limitations of a flat, unmovable screen, the images are far more realistic to the brain and eyes, and it’s a truly mind-blowing experience for those used to watching their porn in 2 dimensions on a television or computer monitor. Sounds can also be recorded in their appropriate positions and volume when dealing in more advanced VR headsets, further closing that “uncanny gap” between viewable technological delights and pure physical pleasure.
In a nutshell, VR porn not only exists in force already, it’s bound to get a lot easier to find (intrepid searchers can already find it on tube sites) and enjoy as affordable headsets are sold throughout the country. As a new piece of technology, rather than another genre in adult entertainment, look for it to revitalize fetish categories in particular.
Why? Because let’s be honest: there’s nothing quite like experiencing your most intense mental fantasy in true-to-life, in-your-face glory.
