For more than 20 years I’ve been involved in the treatment of intimacy disorders and sexual addiction. As such, it’s hardly a surprise to me, as I write about in my book Closer Together, Further Apart, coauthored with Dr. Jennifer Schneider, that two decades of digitally driven access to sexual content and partners has pushed the pedal to the metal on the sex addiction bus. Frankly, ever since the Internet came along – vastly increasing the anonymity, affordability, and accessibility of highly stimulating sexual content and potential partners – the incidence of compulsive/addictive sexual behavior among men, women, and even adolescents has steadily risen. Sometimes it seems as if every new advance in digital technology brings with it a new venue for addictive sexual fantasies and behavior – no matter the technology’s intended purpose – and a new crop of sex addicts.
In recent years, of course, the biggest sexnological leap has been the smartphone, which delivers pornography 24/7/365 regardless of one’s location, has a built-in HD camera that facilitates sexting and other forms of self-generated pornography, and supports geolocating adult friend finder (i.e., sex finder) apps that expedite casual and anonymous sexual encounters. But sexnology hasn’t exactly stood still since the advent of the smartphone. In fact, every January the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas brings us a slew of newer and better devices. For the most part, of course, these shiny new technologies are built for purposes other than sexual adventuring. But, funnily enough, those who want to adapt new technologies for carnal purposes usually can. And do.
The highlight moments of this year’s CES were filmmaker Michael Bay’s meltdown when forced to improvise while discussing Samsung’s new curved-screen televisions (see video of this incident here), and actor Christopher Lloyd arriving – in character as Doc Brown from Back to the Future – in a perfectly recreated DeLorean time machine, complete with flux capacitor and eco-friendly Mr. Fusion Home Energy Reactor. Plus there was some really cool tech stuff.
Among this year’s favorite devices was the Oculus Rift, touted as the next generation of virtual reality. The Rift was initially shown in prototype at last year’s CES, and it generated quite a bit of interest, drawing $75 million in new development funding. And that handsome monetary influx appears to have paid off with drastic improvements. The Rift now has a higher resolution screen, 3D technology, more immersive games, and several other key enhancements. If you’re wondering, the Rift fits over your head like a TV-enhanced pair of ski goggles, and it allows you to turn your head, walk around, or whatever to obtain a 360° gaming and/or viewing experience. The Rift’s primary purpose, of course, is to vastly improve video gaming capabilities, but it will almost certainly be adapted for sexual purposes, especially in conjunction with some of the new 360° video cameras.
And speaking of 360° video cameras, the Geonaute 360 was a definite CES standout. This small, affordable (expected to retail at $499), highly portable device uses a trio of panoramic cameras to generate 360° HD imagery that can be viewed on pretty much any digital screen. For instance, you can download video onto your iPad and then swipe at the screen to move around the room. Even better, you can download the video to an Oculus Rift and simply turn your head, just as you would in real life. So yeah, 360° porn is right around the corner, as are 360° webcams, sexts, and more.
Smart-glasses, such as the Lumus DK40, were also big at this year’s CES. The DK40 resembles other smart-glasses options (such as Google Glass), though users seem to find the DK40 glasses more wearable and also more functional. For starters, instead of a semi-blurry square image, the DK40 casts a crystal clear image of any shape. Furthermore, Lumus has embedded reflective prisms as part of a coating on the lens, eliminating the need for awkwardly fitting beam splitters and separate projectors. The glasses are still slightly lopsided when you wear them, but Lumus expects to eliminate that issue relatively soon, perhaps within the next year. Before long the DK40 (and numerous other smart-glasses) will look and feel just like standard glasses, allowing people to surreptitiously utilize hookup apps, view porn, play virtual sex games, and lots of other stuff – all while walking down the street, having dinner with friends, watching their kid’s baseball game, or whatever.
As usual, the CES was loaded with newer and better and bigger televisions. This year, like last year, the main focus appears to be curving screens, though, like Michael Bay, I’m a bit confused as to why they are supposedly so appealing. More interesting to me is the idea of watching TV without an actual TV, which Sony has latched onto with its 4K Ultra Short Throw Projector. This device, looking like a low-slung modernist credenza, casts a 4K (ultra-HD) 147-inch image onto your bare wall, temporarily turning your white space into entertainment space. Apparently the picture quality is superb, especially if you’re using a 4K video source. It’s even 3D capable. For now, the price point is excessive ($30,000 and up), but it’s sure to come down as other available short throw projectors like the LG Hecto and Philips Screeneo provide less expensive (albeit non-4K) competition. I suspect that it won’t be long before these short throw devices will project 360 degrees, combining with 360° cameras to provide a totally immersive virtual sex experience.
All of these technologies, of course, will eventually be combined with existing and future teledildonic devices, which are designed to allow, via digital technology, the immediate physical experience of remote sexual encounters. As of now, the most popular of these devices are produced by RealTouch. The RealTouch device for men is similar to the ever-popular Fleshlight masturbatory device in that it fits over the penis and simulates a (vaginal or anal) sexual experience – except the RealTouch device is self-lubricating, and it flexes and squeezes in conjunction with online pornography or the actions perpetrated on a joystick by a digitally connected partner. While the RealTouch system is mostly for male pleasure, there are devices designed for females as well, most notably products offered by JeJoue. Better yet, there are several systems meant to please both male and female partners simultaneously, including interactive systems from Highjoy, Mojowijo, and LovePalz.
Needless to say, all of the technologies discussed in this blog are designed for and can absolutely be used in healthy, life-affirming, interpersonally connective ways. In fact, the vast majority of users will indeed experience healthy pleasure and connection using these devices. Unfortunately, as always occurs with new technology, the more vulnerable individuals among us – those who are genetically predisposed to addictive behaviors and those who deal with psychological disorders such as depression, severe anxiety, attachment deficits, and unresolved childhood or severe adult trauma – can and often do learn to use these pleasurable technologies as a means of escaping and dissociating from emotional pain and life stressors. These are the folks who tend to develop tech-based sexual addictions (or other tech-based addictions such as video gaming, gambling, and spending). Simply put, as technology continually improves and gets adapted for potentially addictive purposes (like sexual fantasy and activity), tech-driven addictions become more affordable, more accessible, and much more common.
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Robert Weiss LCSW, CSAT-S is Senior Vice President of Clinical Development with Elements Behavioral Health. A licensed UCLA MSW graduate and personal trainee of Dr. Patrick Carnes, he founded The Sexual Recovery Institute in Los Angeles in 1995. He has developed clinical programs for The Ranch in Nunnelly, Tennessee, Promises Treatment Centers in Malibu, and the aforementioned Sexual Recovery Institute in Los Angeles. He has also provided clinical multi-addiction training and behavioral health program development for the US military and numerous other treatment centers throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia
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And they are apparently too stupid to realize how easy it is to ensure they are called out for their bad behavior.
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    Last reviewed: 19 Feb 2014
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