The newest sex tech products, such as Lovense and WeVibe, focus on pleasure but also aim for loftier goals. Make Love Not Porn strives to combat unrealistic standards set by hardcore pornography by showcasing unrehearsed, consensual, “real world” sex. Meanwhile, the VDOM, a wearable prosthetic genital device, caters to LGBTQ users and people with disabilities who may want to bypass the process of using a strap-on. Glenise Kinard-Moore, the head of SkiiMoo Tech, which developed the VDOM, identified a need for spontaneity as a lesbian woman and created a practical alternative with the device.
A trend in sex tech is identifying gaps in the sexual wellness market and creating technology to fill them. Mainstream representations of sex tech tend to focus on A.I. partners and V.R. pornography, but companies like Make Love Not Porn are focused on connecting people to their humanity through technology. Ariél Martinez, the head of curation for Make Love Not Porn, emphasizes the importance of this connection.
The next time Alexandra and I chat, I try to keep it casual, asking about her daily steps and her preferences for bulldogs and horses. However, curiosity leads me to ask if she uses sex tech to explore her fetishes and kinks.
