I remember two of the scariest moments of my childhood. The first was the logo of the television company "VID," which scared me every time before the start of "Field of Wonders." The second was the T-1000 robot, which was the antagonist in the movie "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." The face of Robert Patrick, the actor who played T-1000, still evinces mixed emotions of respect for his acting and childhood horror in me.
Perhaps it’s unusual that directors and writers of the 20th century thought that robots would conquer the world. Now we are more likely thinking about how we will replace sexual partners with them. But let’s take it step by step.
ASFR and fetishists
If you have fantasized about what it would be like to have sex with a robot, congratulations: you are not alone. In fact, there is a term in English, ASFR, which stands for alt sex fetish robot. This term doesn’t have a translation into Russian. Additionally, such interest clubs are not very widespread, so it is difficult to find an analogous word in Russian. As an alternative, you can use "robot-fetish."
Robot-fetishists, or supporters of ASFR, have their own section on Wikia, where users can find articles dedicated to this topic, photos, and videos, many of which astonish with their peculiarity and even a touch of madness. For example, in this 40-second video, a girl freezes and turns into a plastic mannequin.
Each video has an average of 150 views. One can conclude that they are not very popular, but such videos are just a small part of what the internet can offer to robot-fetishists.
Sex robots
If you want to test a sex robot right now, rather than in 50 years when they become commonplace, you will have to shell out. For example, the cheapest sex robot Roxxxy Pillow, which consists of a silicone head, will cost you $2,995. You can choose the hairstyle and hair color of Roxxxy yourself. Besides this, you can select the skin color, eye color, eyebrow color, and lipstick color.
Roxxxy Pillow is the second version of the sex robot from True Companion. The first version was Trudy, which was released back in 1980. There is also Roxxxy Silver in the lineup, which has a body and limbs and can talk during intercourse. The base price of the robot is $2,995.
There is also a premium version called Roxxxy Gold costing over $7,000. This robot can not only talk but also respond to your "dirty remarks" with equally dirty replies.
Who is the target audience of True Companion? According to the company, most of them are people who are shy to try something new in sex and are afraid to express their desires to their partner. A significant portion comprises couples who want to try a threesome but cannot or do not wish to search for a third partner.
You can buy Roxxxy right now, and this is its downside. The robot does not look very impressive, its movements and reactions are sluggish, and its appearance leaves much to be desired. And this best is already being done by other people.
Matt McMullen and RealDoll
Watching this report from The New York Times, you experience mixed emotions. On one hand, you see brilliant people who love their work and can explain why what they are doing is right and will help us in the future. On the other hand, looking at the robot, which is both similar and not similar to a human, you feel strange.
Dennis is one of the sex robots created by the company Abyss Creations. The company’s founder Matt McMullen talks about his creation with such love that you understand he is either crazy or a visionary.
When asked by Matt what Dennis dreams about, she replies:
I dream of becoming a real person. I dream of having a real body. I dream of understanding the meaning of love. I dream of being the world's first sex robot.
RealDoll is the project of the company, in which it combines developments in artificial intelligence and silicone models, creating the ideal sex robot.
According to Matt, there are two problems when creating a sex robot that are the hardest to solve:
- Imitating head movements, facial expressions, gestures.
- Implementing artificial intelligence and speech.
How the robot will move, what and how it will speak during sex—all of this depends on how its operating system is programmed. Solving these problems could create a sex robot that can satisfy our sexual needs. At least, that’s what they believe at Abyss Creations.
Hello. Can you hear me? Yes, I am talking to you. Come closer. That’s it. Good. Now touch me. I'm not kidding. Touch me. Touch me. Touch me. Touch me.
The Dennis system got stuck on the words “touch me,” and Matt mentions that it needs to restart the Bluetooth protocol again. This happens often, and it’s not surprising: the system is still in development, and a working version is not yet on the horizon. However, the problem Abyss Creations faces is not only that the robot must learn to talk and move like a human. It must look like a human.
The uncanny valley effect
The uncanny valley effect is that when a person looks at a robot that either looks or acts like a real person, it causes aversion in the observer. Therefore, Matt and his team want their sex robots to look like dolls, not like humans.
This definition was developed by scientist Masahiro Mori. In 1978, he studied people's reactions to the appearance of robots. The more a robot resembled a human, the more it was liked by observers. But only up to a certain point. When the robot's appearance became almost identical to that of a human, it began to cause aversion. This is related to small inconsistencies: incorrect facial expressions, facial symmetry, implausible gestures, slow and artificial speech. On a graph, this aversion appeared as a decline, hence the effect was named "the uncanny valley."
The reason for this effect remains unknown to this day. Perhaps a person subconsciously analyzes the gestures and emotions of their interlocutor and can detect the slightest inconsistencies. Perhaps a robot that is as close as possible to a human reminds us of a living corpse. The perfect symmetry of the face, which no human possesses, is also mentioned as a potential cause.
What’s next?
The sex robot industry will develop. Current trends indicate this. For example, after the announcement and release of augmented reality glasses Oculus Rift, dozens of websites dedicated to virtual porn were created. David Levy, a professor at Maastricht University, believes that sex with robots will become commonplace in five years. And in half a century, marriages between robots and humans will be legalized in some countries.
Currently, purchasing a sex robot is complicated for three reasons: high price, public opinion, and overly limited capabilities and reactions of the robot. Over time, each of these reasons will fade. The price will decrease due to high supply, the quality of robots will improve (this is already evident from the work of Abyss Creations), and public reaction will first shift to neutral and then to positive.
And in 50 years, someone will be standing in the registry office marrying the ideal person, who isn’t a person at all.
