Sexy Robots Help Cure Erectile Dysfunction
By K. Thor Jensen 06.17.2018 :: 2:00PM EDT 06.17.2018
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via sorayama.net
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If there's one thing that the modern world teaches us, it's that everything changes. Over the last few decades, we've seen massive paradigm shifts in just about every aspect of human existence, from the way we work to how we meet romantic partners and even interact with our friends. The most basic things are ripe for disruption, and what could be more basic than sex?
The old-fashioned in and out is still perfectly good, but people want more. And we're not talking the kinky stuff, but instead the very idea of "sex" with a partner. The teledildonics revolution has already begun, with people getting off across great distances through motion-sensing sex toys. And many experts are predicting that we'll have fully artificial sex partners – robots – in the next few decades.
While these robots are going to primarily be sold for recreational purposes, there are legitimate medical uses for the technology as well. One of the most interesting is going to be in sex therapy – helping people with a variety of conditions enjoy intercourse better. For guys, that means that they could provide a path to overcoming erectile dysfunction.
Trouble Down There
There are numerous causes for erectile dysfunction. Some of them are physical – anything that interferes with your body's natural blood flow can be the culprit, like heart disease, diabetes or high cholesterol. Your physical condition can also hinder your little soldier's ability to stand at attention, with obesity a major contributor. But many cases of ED are down to psychological factors, and that's how scientists think sex robots can help.
Stress, depression, and anxiety can interfere with the mental signals necessary to initiate arousal. And there's plenty of all three surrounding intimacy in today's sex-obsessed culture. We've been so habituated by media (especially pornography) to think that intercourse has to go a certain way to be successful. Most people can't live up to the examples set by adult movie stars, whether that's the size of their equipment or the length of time they can use it. And when you go into an intimate situation doubting yourself, that's going to color the whole experience in a negative light.
So sex robots and other technology could help with this by creating a comfortable environment for people to experiment sexually and get feedback without worrying about the pleasure or emotional response of another human being. Convincing a flesh and blood woman to participate in something like that would be a pretty serious test of a relationship, so automating it makes sense. Let's try to imagine how it would work.
Practice Runs
One of the most contentious debates in the robot sex world is if making love to a synthetic object is actually, you know, making love or if it's just ridiculously complicated masturbation. We're more inclined to think it's the latter, but the potential for sex robots to detect and record stimuli and react to their surroundings makes them a little more useful than a Fleshlight for the purpose of resolving sexual anxiety.
One of the most common anxieties men have about sex is premature ejaculation. Even though the average lovemaking session is 7.3 minutes and 43% of heterosexual intercourse is over in less than two minutes, people still seem to think that the act has to last for half an hour in multiple positions. And stress makes that time shorter, not longer.
Being able to simulate the act with a robotic partner can help men understand the positions and movements that bring them to climax and avoid or delay them. Building these robots with force feedback mechanisms can allow men to gently ramp up to these triggers and increase their tolerance for them. It's obviously possible to do this with old-fashioned masturbation, but it requires a little more self-control.
While sex robots aren't at that point yet, it's easy to imagine models hooked up with biofeedback sensors that can determine when a partner is about to climax and reduce stimulation to gently bring them away from the edge and prolong their experience. Over time, men can build confidence and reduce anxiety, making for more boners.
In addition, simply being able to simulate the sex act with a realistic partner can help aid men become comfortable with the basic positions and movements, reducing anxiety when they get to the real thing. This isn't something that you're taught in high school heath class, and usually only comes together after a bunch of awkward experimentation. For people who didn't get the chance to fool around in their teens (where bad sex is sort of all you get), this could be a serious blessing.
The obvious downside to this treatment methodology is that sex is a two-way street, and the only way to learn how to please a partner is through communication. All of the time in the world won't help you if you aren't making love in a way that works for your partner. Expecting sex robots to develop the kind of natural language skills that would let them ask to be pleasured in specific ways is a pretty far off dream. So dudes might be able to tackle their erectile dysfunction, but they still have work to do on the path to truly great sex.
Of course, there's also the fear – laid out in multiple newspaper articles – that sex robots will somehow replace real intimacy entirely. If sex robots can provide men with an orgasmic experience tailored to their fantasies using a partner who never says no, what use will they have for real partners? I think that's a little overstated a fear. No matter how good simulated sex can be, the real thing is a complex ballet of emotions, hormones, and physicality that science is hard-pressed to duplicate.
Sex robot makers aren't looking to create a world where mechanical intimacy replaces the real thing, except for a few dedicated perverts. Instead, what they want is simply to give people another option for sexual pleasure in a way that's healthy and ethical.
Today's sex robots are still pretty primitive – just a step up from inflatable sex dolls with adjustable motorized orifices. But there's a lot of money involved in making these things more robust and commercially viable. We wouldn't be terribly surprised if some big names on the medical side of things take the tech and go to the FDA with it as a way to make sex accessible for people who have problems either physical or psychological.
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