Sex and that too virtual ?? Sounds interesting isn’t it..?
Few questions that may arise are like : How can you feel kisses that aren't truly there?
How can you caress (touch or stroke lightly in loving manner) something that exists as little more than a dream?
The theorists of the 15th and 16th centuries pondered these questions in an attempt to reconcile "confessions" of demonic sex with the metaphysics of their own faith. They compiled thick tomes of pained confessions and continually revised their mythology concerning sorcery.
How is Virtual Sexuality taking place ?
The future is bright for virtual sexuality. After all, we're human beings. Think of any great artistic or technological achievement and chances are it winds up in our pants at some point. Poetry gave us pornography, the telephone gave us sex hotlines and vulcanization gave us the modern condom. It's just part of who we are.
Today, more than 2.1 billion people surf the World Wide Web [source: CIA World Factbook]. Internet pornography is a multibillion-dollar industry and although an exact count of Web sites is difficult to formulate, we do know that at least one hardworking web-filtering service (CYBERsitter) currently blocks more than 2.5 million porn sites [source: Ruvolo].
Roughly speaking, you can divide all of our sexual uses of technology into two categories:
1. Sexual communication with another person (sexting, sex chat rooms and webcam cybersex)
2. Sexual interaction with a simulation (interactive sex video games)
Human telecommunication began with the mere transmission of words and ideas via the telegraph. We quickly moved on to sending sounds and sights. Today, the industry continues to work toward the seamless transmission of our entire sensory experience.
Physical Touch in a Digital World
They don't call it "carnal knowledge" for nothing. Every lover's embrace is essentially sense data, but to what extent can we truly digitize, transmit and receive that information? Let's start with the sense of touch.
Sure, a computer mouse or video game joystick allows you to manipulate items in a computer environment, but the realm of physical touch falls to the field of computer haptics. As the photo on this page illustrates, haptic technology generally takes the form of a glove that allows the user to not only control but actually feel virtual items.
Few interesting examples.
Of course, sexual touches incorporate far more than the use of our hands, and scientists are already hard at work on haptic technology for our other parts. Just consider the Hug Shirt, a Bluetooth-enabled garment from the U.K.'s CuteCircuit that uses embedded sensors and actuators to simulate the warmth and touch of an affectionate embrace. Suddenly, a transoceanic hug becomes as simple as sending a text message.
Or if you fancy something a little more randy, then take heart in the Kiss Transmitter prototype from Kajimoto Laboratory at Tokyo's University of Electro-Communications. Resembling a cross between an electric toothbrush and a joystick, the device is designed to transmit all the tongue-swirling intensity of a French kiss across the digital divide.
Ghhhosssh,,,this all sounds a bit low tech,,,isn’t it… As low-tech as that sounds (and generally is), the electronic transmission of physical pleasure takes a rather high-tech turn with Dr. Stuart Meloy's Orgasmatron. Created in 2008, this device sends an electrical pulse through nerves in the spinal cord that inform parts of the brain processing pleasurable sensations in the female genitalia. A study published in the journal Neuromodulation even reported that four women who had previously lost the ability to experience orgasms regained it with the device [source: Nuzzo].
In the example of the Orgasmatron, we see that the future of virtual sex may rely not only on haptic gloves and vibrating sensors, but also on the complex manipulation of the human nervous system.
Wake up and Smell the Future
OK this all was totally techie…. Now if you want to feel that your partner is besides you then most important thing that comes in mind is the “smell” , whether bad or good,,,it’s upto you.. lolzz.
Smell and taste complete the human sensory experience, and rest assured that research continues into the creation of digitally transmitted smells. Before you scoff at the importance of smell in human sexuality, just remember that about one out of every 50 genes in the human genome concern this most ancient of senses [source: Shell].
Without smell in the mix, how can we expect to fully buy into a virtual experience? And as smell plays such a vital role in our sense of taste, too, the importance of digital scent technology becomes obvious.
Printable Odors follow the same logic of your standard laser printer. While the printer creates a wide variety of colors from a limited pallet of primary colors, so too does an odor printer create a variety of smells out of primary scents.
This brings us at last back to our sense of vision. While visual rendering technology continues to advance at an amazing rate, the addition of smell, taste and touch into the virtual reality experience actually lightens the burden for visual simulation. This is due to what scientists call crossmodal attention affects, which govern the way the brain prioritizes some sensory inputs over others.
For instance, the kiss you feel on your cheek takes sensory priority over the texture of the sofa cushion underneath you -- and it takes priority at a neurological level. In fact, the amount of brainpower allotted to sight drastically decreases once sound, smell and touch are introduced [source: Madrigal].
The technology continues to emerge, but the day is fast approaching when two lovers may slip into their virtual reality cocoons and fall into each others' arms across intercontinental or even interplanetary distances.
Still others may turn their backs on real-world romance altogether. They'll embrace simulated celebrities, impossible anime bodies and fetishes previously only imagined.
This virtual hedonaut will reach out with a haptic glove, stare into programmed eyes and touch flesh that exists as little more than a dream.
According to me , Virtual sex is surely going to emerge . But the question stands , "When"?
source : how stuff works website.
