"I'm Sure You've Heard of Rule 34... Right?" as seen in The Magdalen

Technology

"I'm sure you've heard of ;) xxx

T

echnology has a place in every part of our

I started a discussion on Twitter about this: is VR

lives but we often forget the role it plays in our

pornography the future, or is it a little weird? My

love lives. Not too long ago, the conventional

favourite response came from a friend of mine (who

way of meeting people would be whilst out with friends

inspired the name of this article): “I’m sure you’ve heard

and being introduced through someone. Not anymore.

of Rule 34… Right?” The idea that if something exists,

With the rise of dating apps such as Tinder, Grindr, and

there will be pornography made about it... Because we’re

Happn, you're no longer restricted to those within the

all different and we like different things.

outer reaches of your friend circles: the world is your ocean and it's full of fish!

And because ‘weird’ tends to become popular through general curiosity, soon it’ll become the norm. At least

The way people explore their sexuality has also changed,

after a lot of publicity, some criticism, and maybe even

you can now use virtual reality to bring your wildest

people ‘just trying it for a laugh’. Fifty Shades of Grey

fantasies to life. And no, it’s not weird, it’s unlimited

experienced exactly this: because anything to do with

potential! We even saw some previews at last year’s

sexuality automatically becomes controversial and

Sundance Film Festival.

risqué. The start-ups in the business know this and

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Technology

aren’t scared to push boundaries.

wrong. When done correctly

The world of virtual reality is

Various companies hire out adult

however, the final product can be

growing. It’s the closest most

film actresses for their VR sWhoots

incredibly life-like.

people can get to a lucid dream. In the meantime however, we’ll just

- and since VR can be made live, sometimes the shoots are tailored

But what about the feel of VR? The

have to keep dreaming of a

to individuals, using various

Oculus Touch and HTC Vive both

perfect virtual future.

add-on gadgets for men and

use controllers which allow users to

women alike, which help bring the

go beyond the standard audio-visual

experience to life.

experience of VR, and can even

Written by Mila Georgieva

bring your hands into the virtual One company made up of

world. Unfortunately there is no

University students in America

feedback, you can’t touch or hold

discussed their project online, where

anything in VR, everything feels the

their first test shoot took place in

same - it feels like a controller.

a dorm room! A few crazy stories later, and their idea took off. Their

Overall we seem to be a just a few

use of 360 degree cameras for the

years away from any truly human

shoots provided a wide range of

interaction through VR. This is

angles, making for a very immersive

something companies are paying

experience whilst wearing a virtual

millions for, and one way the

reality headset. But the behind-the-

pornography industry is

scenes work is not so glamorous.

growing, giving it a new

There’s usually either a 360 camera,

taste of potential which is

or a group of regular cameras in

quickly becoming more widespread.

Which also brings about even more

“The idea that if something exists, there will be pornography made about it...”

weird and wonderful gadgets such as “Fundawear” and “Kissenger”.

The former of which is a project

by Durex: foreplay underwear.

Controlled by a mobile app, this set of fancy pants provides the sensation of touch via sensors and receptors in the fabric. Kissenger

a circle, to enable to multi-angle views. (Apparently Go-Pros are great for this - what can’t we use Go-Pros for?) Angles are important too, distortion or pixelation can occur due to a bad angle - resulting in someone appearing cut in half if they lean too far one way, like a panoramic photo gone completely

by Lovotics on the other hand (which has absolutely nothing to do with American politics) is a kissing middle-man for long-distance couples: it replicates the kiss from one person to the other via the mini robot head… which is shaped like a pig (again, no political connotations).

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