Since the dawn of time, people who aren't terrible have been using words to ask other people to have sex with them. What if we could do away with all that and press a fuck button instead? A would-be product called LoveSync, which is mid-Kickstarter campaign at the moment, wants to do just that. Basically, it's two buttons — one for you and one for your partner — that you can press whenever you're interested in having sex. If your partner has also pressed their button, you'll both be notified with a "swirling glow. "Then you just have sex, I guess? The supposed advantage of LoveSync, according to LoveSync, is that it creates a sexual environment with "no rejection, guilt, or missed opportunities." Since you'll get a clear answer from your partner, it posits, you won't ever feel bad about mixed signals, differences in libido, or any of the other stressors that are part of being a sexual person. Of course, this is very bad. If you are not motivated enough to initiate sex, you should not be having sex, and gamifying consent is a terrible idea. But the reason people are really going after this thing on Twitter is its Kickstarter description, which is full of mind-boggling phrases like "15 minute consensus window" and "sexual desire spectrum." There's also a huge focus on being able to push your button "anonymously" — as if your partner would not already be aware that you, in fact, were in possession of your own button. This is all to say nothing of the fact that informing a large silver button of your horniness seems incredibly misguided. At the time of writing, the creators of LoveSync had raised $1,807 of their $7,500 goal. We've reached out and will update if we hear back.<doc-sep>Millennials have killed many things: cable television, golf, McDonald’s, and now, apparently healthy sexual relationships. A new gadget currently being Kickstarted called “LoveSync” is the Amazon Dash button for horny men and women who don’t feel comfortable telling their partner they’d like to have sex. Instead of leaning over and vocally asking your girlfriend or boyfriend, the LoveSync button does it for you. Essentially, there are two buttons — one for you, and one for your partner. If you’re feeling horny, you tap your button to store your desire for a set period of time. If your partner also taps their button during the time period then both buttons will glow to signify a match. The button may seem like a seamless way to start a heavy night of passion, especially if you don’t want to talk to your partner beforehand for whatever reason, but there are a couple of problems with the button’s existence. “When you’re feeling like you could be gettin’ down for some action, you anonymously tap your button,” the page reads. “Your desire will be stored for a set time period. No risk of rejection here, and no pressure on your partner — if only one of you tap, nothing happens.” According to LoveSync, seemingly the new frontrunner for sex therapists of the year, here are the conditions in which it is okay to have sex with your partner: If you push a button and they push a button If you push a button and they do not cancel their request for sex If your partner is actually the one to hit the button and not the cat or a book falling off a shelf or something. Uh... that’s it. These set of buttons seem like they’re designed for a traditional monogamous couple, so it’s not exactly anonymous. Either you or your partner are horny; it’s not like there’s a third person in this equation. But it does bring up a particular quandary; as anyone with an Amazon Dash button and a cat, dog, or toddler will tell you, accidents happen. Sometimes, a button gets pressed over and over again, and you wind up with 10 cases of toilet paper because your cat got bored and started using the button as a toy. The same thing could happen with this button. Having a cat hit a button repeatedly, without your partner knowing, could send an awkward message about you being horny at 2:30 in the afternoon. LoveSync’s Kickstarter campaign page states that “It provides the most benefit for couples who tend to not be as frequently outward about their sexual desires, but even those with above average drive have room to improve.” This may be a good starting point for people who aren’t comfortable or able to pick up on nonverbal cues, but it should only be the first step — everything should lead back to communication. An FAQ section for the campaign goes into additional details about the product, including noting that although “LoveSync will significantly reduce the number of failed foreplay attempts targeted at trying to find out if your partner is ‘in the mood,’ foreplay itself is an important psychological and physiological aspect of healthy sex.” The FAQ section, unfortunately, doesn’t include advice about simply talking to your partner about why there are so many failed foreplay attempts between the both of you. “You’re also settling for suboptimal sex.” This is the main issue with LoveSync’s strategy: it might be an easier way to let your partner known that you want to have sex, but doesn’t fix the fundamental issue at hand. Talking about sexual relationships, and what your partner wants or needs to have a fulfilling sexual experience, is key to having a fulfilling sex life. It’s not just about having more sex, as LoveSync’s Kickstarter page boasts, it’s about having better sex. Kate McCombs, a sex educator, told HealthLine this in 2017. “When you avoid those vital conversations, you might avoid some awkwardness, but you’re also settling for suboptimal sex,” she said. LoveSync turns sex in an intimate relationship into a quantifiable activity, instead of one that should be centered around the quality of a couple’s sex life. Healthy sexual relationships are borne out of healthy and openly communicative partners. Simply tapping a button and hoping your partner will tap back, like some kind of morse code in a dark room, doesn’t fix the problem, it temporarily puts it on hold. And if your partner chooses to hold their button down for four seconds and “cancel your desire,” you’ll be left thinking about what’s going on inside their head instead of simply having a conversation. Seriously, just talk to your partner the next time you want to have sex and are unsure if they’re up to it — and save yourself $50 in the process. Correction: The article has been updated to clarify how the buttons work. Pressing a button does not send “a signal to your partner’s button, basically asking if they’d also like to have sex” as previously stated.<doc-sep>
LoveSync is a device that lets you, with the push of a button, silently and "anonymously" indicate to your partner that you're in the mood for sex. A fundraising campaign for LoveSync launched Monday on Kickstarter, and the device has already raised more than half of its $7,500 goal. People on social media are roasting the button for its purpose of "summoning" your partner and intent to replace audible consent for sex. Amazon pioneered the idea of miniature buttons that people press to quickly order household staples like laundry detergent and potato chips. Now, a startup has a button for couples to request another household essential: sex. On Monday, a Kickstarter campaign introduced the world to LoveSync buttons, designed to help partners signal when they're in the mood for sex. LoveSync buttons come in a set — one for each person's bedside table — so you can press it when you want to indicate to your partner that you want to have sex. If both partners tap their buttons in the same 15-minute "consensus window," both buttons will glow green, and you'll know the other person is horny too. Though it's only a Kickstarter concept at this point, the LoveSync button aims for the elegant design of an Apple product or a Nest thermostat, with "CNC machined steel housing" and a "capacitive touch sensor." The device, the Kickstarter campaign says, is designed to "take the luck out of getting lucky" so you can "make your move with confidence" — so you don't have to risk initiating sex and getting rejected. LoveSync's launch on Kickstarter wasn't met with entirely positive reactions on social media. People on Twitter skewered several features of the device, as well as its description. The video on LoveSync's campaign page says you can push the button "anonymously" — which is puzzling, considering the buttons are advertised as being for a couple. People also criticized LoveSync's high price, versus simply asking your partner for sex. The Kickstarter campaign says a set of the LoveSync buttons will cost $57 (unless you nab an early-bird price). Some also drew similarities between LoveSync and the "nut button" meme, which emerged online in 2016. The founders are a Cleveland couple named Ryan and Jenn Cmich, who said in a promo video that they lost the "joys of romance" after being married for about 15 years. The buttons, they said, are a solution to an "age-old problem," allowing you to "get your LoveSync on." As of Tuesday, LoveSync had 84 backers, who had pledged more than $4,000. LoveSync has until March 13 to reach its $7,500 goal, and the campaign says backers will get their LoveSync buttons in August if it's successful.