We’ve known about it, and the adult entertainment industry is intent on delivering satisfaction through VR. It was going to happen no matter what.
Naughty America (NA) is a pioneer among many California-based studios getting in on the action, and had their own meeting area tucked away in the LVCC South Hall. Considering its location and audience, the lines were rowed with people waiting to get a turn, some were jovial but many didn’t utter a single word and tried not to make eye contact with anybody. On the other end were the couples in the room who were more than excited to try it out, and me who sat down with Naughty America CIO Ian Paul to discuss the erotic potential for VR.
Ian exclaims that pornography has seen amazing growth last year, with the estimated rate of VR owners to NA subscriptions almost 1:1. The sitdown was actually chill as we talked about the inner workings how they capture footage, which is done in 180-degrees with excellent quality, and stereoscopic 3D. One of the challenges on the technical side is the ideal goal of reaching a viewing angle of 210 degrees, but production costs and the presence of the filming crew are hindrances — the current tradeoff however, is that a narrower field of view means NA doesn’t have to sacrifice high-resolution video right now.
After that, I got to go through the demo as they fitted me with an HTC Vive headset — and needless to say the experience was definitely in-my-face (not that I’m complaining mind you). First, I was on a beach as Peta Jensen rubbed oil on herself and briefly played in the water, afterwards we went back to “my place” where she eagerly engaged in overtly oral stimulation. The second act was actually pretty funny and took in a mansion where a sex party was taking place, I was led on a voyeuristic tour where something lewd was happening behind every door, and eventually found myself smothered in a MFFFF fivesome — the premise was so deliberately absurd that I laughed out loud a few times. Finally, the last escapade involved Rachel Star in the gym as she tried to perform aerobic squats over my virtual crotch…you can imagine how the rest of the workout session went down.
Admittedly, I can see how people could have fun and enjoy themselves getting up close, even though the “VR” portion is less involved interaction-wise. Right now, the isolating feeling is probably a good fit for porn, but Ian says that there’s plenty of opportunity for couples to experiment together. Both could be watching from different perspectives (each wearing a VR headset of course), and physically enticed with sex toys that employ haptic feedback. A newly-formed partnership with KIIROO is planned to work on employing the former enhancement while augmented reality (AR) implementation is in the works later this year, but details are unspecified at the moment.
At the end of my visit, a lot of the criticisms I have with VR such as technical refinement, initial investment, and absolute scarcity of worthwhile content are also objectives Naughty America recognizes and plan to address, aiming at being one of the first on the forefront. The goal of going beyond and embracing future AR is ambitious, but if it must be done through pornography, we doubt there’d be a shortage of participants willing to reach that sensual climax.