Once again online interactive sex toys promised - vaporware?

[Bill]

From Wired, which seems to be sending reporters to all the adult trade shows on a regular basis now...

(On boingboing it was called "the ultimate in site stickiness". see below)

"If the excitement over Internet-enabled adult gadgets at the recent Erotica Los Angeles trade show is any indication of what's to come, virtual sex may have at last become reality.

"One of the most popular demonstrations at the three-day porn industry event featured a collaboration of sorts between yet-to-be-launched dating and virtual sex hookup service High Joy and sex-toy maker Doc Johnson, the company that produces branded gadgets for popular adult film company Vivid Entertainment.

"Using a two-way video, audio and text chat interface, expo attendees were invited to control Doc Johnson-branded iVibe pleasure devices being put to use by models at an undisclosed location, in various states of undress.

http://www.wired.com/news/games/0,21...opstories_html


Here's the clip Xeni Jardin filed on Boing Boing


http://boingboing.net/

Scriptable, Internet-controlled sex toys
I filed this story for Wired News today about one of the more interesting gadget demonstrations at this weekend's Erotica LA porn industry convention: remote-control, "scriptable" sex toys. Adult entertainment providers will soon sell celebrity-branded "scripts" for the devices (think: Jenna Jameson, Tera Patrick, Ron Jeremy, and the like), which work like mobile phone ringtones but -- well-- then again, kinda different.
Using a two-way video, audio and text chat interface, expo attendees were invited to control Doc Johnson-branded iVibe pleasure devices being put to use by models at an undisclosed location, in various states of undress.
"The device control works both ways -- the person on each end controls the speed and rhythm of the device the other is using," explained High Joy President Amir Vatan, as one attendee cranked his remote partner's iVibe to warp-speed intensity. The Internet-enabled products will become publicly available before the end of 2004, and will later be integrated into an assortment of Web porn destinations.

"It's the ultimate in site stickiness," said Vatan. "For online adult providers, more interactivity means more traffic, and more traffic means more revenue."

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They've been promising this kind of thing for years, and I've seen at least three earlier prototypes that never had any commercial success. Maybe this time they'll make it work.

Something new to liven up the old sales spiel.