It’s obvious to anyone with even a minor interest in technology: virtual reality is picking up speed. From Facebook going Meta in order to better sell the idea of a metaverse to the world’s first human trial of an augmented reality contact lens, VR and related fields are a hotbed of innovation that continue to make huge advancements in media, information, and social spheres. One realm that will undoubtedly be changed by new VR/AR tech deals with how we socialize and, perhaps more importantly, how we make intimate, loving connections with others.
The Future of Dating is Already Here
Adults were already using dating apps and social media to find consenting partners to sexual relationships but the onset of the COVID-19 global pandemic in the waning days of 2019 led still unknown masses of people online in search of love and intimacy. With a strong technological base to support this shift, many of these people found greater satisfaction in a social sphere with fewer of the more anxiety inducing elements that often left them feeling deflated or, worse, defeated. Entertainment and socializing went almost fully online during the pandemic and now, even with a push to return to “normalcy” continue to flourish there in a way many naysayers once thought dehumanizing.
Anyone seeking sex via the digital world can now quite easily find it. And, defying the expectations of many, it’s often just as satisfying as the “real” thing. VR porn comes far closer to an intimate experience than traditional porn ever did, largely because the viewer is almost always given the vantage point of one of the performers. In this way, VR porn can feel remarkably like a real sexual encounter. Some VR porn users even report instinctively reaching out to touch a virtual partner, turning their head to hear directional audio of this partner’s voice, and even smelling something they attribute to this other person. As realistic as virtual reality sex can be, though, it still requires manual self-stimulation. At least, it does unless a user is willing to equip themselves with a teledildonic device.
Equipping Yourself for Love
Using “smart scripts” and bluetooth connectivity, teledildonics enable users to be physically pleasured without having to do it themselves. As online social interactions head even further into the virtual, especially now that major players like Meta and Microsoft are striving to bring users into their largely user-built metaverse communities, it’s expected that adult-use VR will expand to include person-to-person interactivity in a way VR porn doesn’t yet achieve. When it does, it likely won’t be regarded as VR “porn” at all.
Where does this take virtual and augmented dating for those more interested in interacting with another human in real time, not a prerecorded virtual avatar? In the not too distant future we will be able to meet in online group areas, find someone appealing, propose a private virtual meeting, and soon find ourselves standing, as cartoonish avatars or perfectly rendered 3D models of ourselves, next to that person. Communicating won’t be a hazy audio feed with mismatched facial movements but a perfect delivery of our actual spoken communication, complete with fluid, expressive facial movements.
The pandemic era may be ending but the uncertainty about life after COVID remains. As augmented and mixed reality tech (and the hype surrounding it) ramps up, and with major VR/AR/MR hardware releases from Meta and Apple looming on the horizon, there’s every reason to expect another major shift in how humans interact romantically. Much like the advent of the smart phone and apps like Grindr, Tinder, and Bumble changed the way people dated, VR and AR have the potential to radically alter our romantic social lives forever.
