Virtual Porn That Puts Viewers Into Scenes Using Holograms Is On The Rise

By this stage in 2020, with more than half the year gone, nothing should really be a surprise anymore. And yet, even the things that probably shouldn't be a surprise still manage to contain elements of surprise.

Want an example? Here you go. In this day and age of social distancing and staying at home all the damn time, virtual reality porn has become the fastest-growing segment of the adult entertainment industry.

Now, an uptick in the use of porn during these times is - obviously - nothing that wouldn't be expected.

But, according to the Daily Star, the number one search term on the premium page of Pornhub, the world's biggest porn site, is 'virtual reality porn'.

BadoinkVR

Again, while it's probably not a surprise that virtual reality porn exists, that it's become so popular is - not least because you - apparently - need to either strap a smartphone to your head with an adapter or use an actual virtual reality headset. But that's what people are doing - by the busload.

Production director of VR porn specialists BaDoink - and let's just take a second to appreciate how great that company name is - Dinorah Hernandez, told The Times that 'people are not paying for porn like they used to' so that specialising in VR gave her company a creative edge.

Not only that, but she said that 'it's not so easy to go and pirate a VR scene'. Which makes sense.

Perhaps most importantly, VR porn could be a chance for the notoriously unhealthy aspects of the industry to be changed.

According to sex-tech expert and clinical psychologist Holly Richmond, the abusive elements of the industry might be reduced as a result of the advances in VR.

VR Bangers

"Shooting a video in 3D means the entire process of writing, directing, shooting and acting in porn has to be rewritten," she said.

"Theoretically it's a chance to redefine what people can experience, and to make porn better."

Despite the surge in searches, however, she says the tech isn't quite there yet, but shouldn't be too far away, and that a mixture of VR, augmented reality and teledildonics - the technology which enables remote sex (well, remote mutual masturbation) by communicating tactile sensations between participants over a data link - will eventually be able to create perfect sexual illusion.

"Tech that actually implants a viewer in the scene is coming," she said. "There's really no barrier to what you can experience, the tech just has to catch up."

Topics: Technology

Mischa Pearlmen

Mischa is a freelance journalist usually based in either New York or London. He has written for Kerrang!, Record Collector, NME, the New York Observer and FLOOD magazine, among others. Contact him at [email protected]