Marianne Brandon Ph.D.
The Future of Intimacy
SEX
When your avatar has better sex than you do.
KEY POINTS
- As sex tech advances, our avatars will look and move in more humanoid ways.
- Avatars have no sexual concerns or dysfunctions interfering with sexual satisfaction.
- Avatars aren’t limited by emotional challenges that interfere with sexual pleasure, such as shame and anxiety.
You and your lover broke up a few weeks ago. Now you’re feeling lonely and miss being touched. In the past, this meant you had to psych yourself up to start dating again — taking energy you didn’t have and draining your time. But, thankfully, today, you have a new, intriguing option — sex via your avatar in virtual reality (VR). Hooking up no longer requires putting on attractive clothes or even showering. Your avatar has a better body than you do, as well as a sexier voice. And since VR bars are open 24 hours, you log in whenever you want. You gotta love the ease and efficiency of virtual sex!
Source: Kviki_Viki/Shutterstock
An AI-Powered Lover vs. a Human-Powered One
You log in to your favorite virtual reality chat room and look around. Some of the avatars look rather unusual, and others are super sexualized. In this app, you can opt for an artificial intelligence-powered lover or a human-powered one. You decide to pay extra for the AI lover since they require less time and effort to engage.
With no sexual needs of their own, it sure feels like AI avatars aim to please. You enjoy the advantage of their remembering you so that the next time you visit, they know exactly what to say (and how to say it) to turn you on. Even without haptic feedback, you “felt” touch in VR. But your futuristic haptic suit is so sensitive that you honestly forget the touch you feel is generated from your VR sex get-up and not an actual human hand or body part. And let’s face it, human sex partners are just not that flexible between the sheets!
Some Downsides to VR Sex
But it’s not all rainbows and unicorns. If you decide on a virtual lover who is controlled by another human, then less-positive reactions are possible. In this case, you still have to deal with a human being.
People are generally less inhibited when they are hidden behind their avatars, which could be both good and bad for their sex life. This means that your lover may be less inhibited sexually but also freer to say or do things that could feel hurtful. Of course, there are multiple safety measures built into the app to mitigate uncomfortable situations, but sometimes things are said or done before you have a chance to protect yourself. Sexual harassment in VR is almost as uncomfortable as in real life. And it’s such a drag if someone complains and you get banned from the site, even if for only a few weeks.
It’s shockingly easy to forget that you aren’t your avatar. Yet, every once in a while, you wonder if you should be investing this time in your real-world life rather than your virtual one. As much as you don’t want to think about it, you are getting older. It would be nice to have someone around to talk to, have dinner with, or even have old-fashioned sex with. Even though you don’t leave the house frequently, it still would be comforting to have someone to come home to. But deep down, you know that these longings are pure fantasy. You’ve never been turned on by cellulite. Plus, humans don’t always find lifetime love affairs — that’s the stuff of fairy tales. How ironic that you actually can have a lifetime love affair with an avatar!
Avatars are just so much easier to spend time with than humans. You can let loose sexually when you aren’t worried about what your human partner thinks of your package or breasts or how long it takes you to orgasm. You feel less vulnerable in a good way. This translates into bigger and better orgasms, for sure. Plus, you get to try just about everything you see on porn since most avatars are more adventurous than human partners. Humans are so uptight between the sheets!
What will it feel like when your avatar has better sex than you do?
References
Basu, T. (11/16/2021). The Metaverse is the next venue for body dysmorphia online. MIT Technology Review. https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/11/16/1040174/facebook-metaverse-…
Hill, K. (10/7/2022). This is life in the metaverse. The New York Times.com. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/07/technology/metaverse-facebook-horizo…
Marchesi, S.,Tommaso, D., Perez-Osorio, J. & Wyowska, A. (2022). Belief in sharing the same phenomenological experience increases the liklihood of adopting the intentional stance toward a humanoid robot. Technology, Mind and Behavior, DOI:10.31234/osf.io/te8rb
Orel, M. (2020). Escaping reality and touring for pleasure: the future of virtual reality pornography. Porn Studies, 7, 449-453.
Sykownik, P. & Masuch, M. (2020). The experience of social touch in multi-user virtual reality. Virtual Reality Software and Technology, Nov 1-4, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1145/3385956.3418944
