I think the next big thing after VR will be sexbots, as in, per Philip K Dick, "your basic pleasure model." The pieces are almost all on the shelf and coming together.
The hard part of course will be the software, with the motivation of making it an increasingly realistic companion. The Dark Matter series placed an interesting spin on it, where the "entertainment android", in addition to sex, is also specialized for cooking, backrubs, songs, etc.
I don't think so. Google Glass proved that tech, fashion and social cues are all deeply related. I think the same people who wore glass around in public and didn't get why people called them assholes would be the same people who buy sexbots and don't get why people call them perverts. A few dorks with calf-high white socks with birkenstocks would go nuts for them, and most of the rest of the world would look on with a mixture of disdain, amusement and repulsion.
> I don't think so. Google Glass proved that tech, fashion and social cues are all deeply related.
That's very true.
> I think the same people who wore glass around in public and didn't get why people called them assholes would be the same people who buy sexbots and don't get why people call them perverts. A few dorks with calf-high white socks with birkenstocks would go nuts for them, and most of the rest of the world would look on with a mixture of disdain, amusement and repulsion.
It's interesting how this polarizes people. Because you see, I consider everyone who called Google glass wearer 'glasshole' to be a total dick. I understand the reason for their hate and I think they're stupid and they should get over themselves and their jealousy and fear of technology. It doesn't warrant hostile behaviour to another human being.
The interesting thing here is that sexbots can come in both genders, which might mitigate the stigma. There are probably a lot more women with vibrators than men with various appliances, yet no one calls a woman a pervert for owning one. If it becomes common for women dorks to own sexbots, then the path might be clear for men dorks.
Sounds like a great product, but of course, it'll likely offload most of the processing to "the cloud" so the manufacturer can spy on you and sell info on your sexual kinks to the highest bidder.
I dunno, I feel like porn is one area where society in general really does care about their privacy. People who don't care about most tracking will still use private browsing to watch porn, and companies go to great lengths to highlight their discreet billing/packaging etc.
One doesn't really exclude the other. What you wrote is true, but people primarily care about not being discovered by people they know, and cloud is a go-to business model for people too lazy to invent something that's sustainable and actually beneficial to the user... Given how hard it is to monetize causal porn browsing, I wouldn't be surprised if some companies started giving in to the temptation...
The hard part of course will be the software, with the motivation of making it an increasingly realistic companion. The Dark Matter series placed an interesting spin on it, where the "entertainment android", in addition to sex, is also specialized for cooking, backrubs, songs, etc.