These sex dolls come with a personality, too
If the RealDoll wasn’t already threat enough to flesh-and-blood relationships, get ready for the faux lovers — designed to look hotter than any humans on the planet — to outthink us, as well as out-sex us.
The company that produces the $7,000-or-so fornication toys, made from silicon and painted by hand, is coming out with a high-tech app that gives its products artificial brains. The hope is that the new iteration of RealDolls will be able to establish emotional ties to their owners — and, in the not too distant future, have some robotic qualities as well.
It gets us one step closer to a real-world version of the film “Her” , in which Joaquin Phoenix’s character falls in love with the Alexa-style software in his computer.
“They made a movie about what we are trying to do,” Matt McMullen, CEO of RealDoll fabricator Abyss Creations, tells the Post. “We just released the AI as an app on the phone to customize [the doll’s] personality. Toward the end of the year, we will release the robotic counterpart.”
According to Digital Trends , the AI-wired head alone — slated for later this year, and available as an add-on to existing dolls — will go for around $10,000.
Not only will the sex bots ultimately be able to move their lips and bodies and speak in a variety of accents, but they will also possess the ability to learn. As explained on Techmine , RealDolls with artificial brains will be able to remember the “main events [in their owners’ lives]” and “create a simulation of a compelling relationship.”
Eventually, the hope goes, these RealDolls will be able to hold up their end of a conversation. It’s still a work in progress. As reported on Engadget , when asked its favorite sexual position, the brain-infused RealDoll mistakenly responded, “She’s not that kind of girl” — but refinements are coming along. (Phew. Nobody wants a reserved old maid of an artificial sex surrogate.)
McMullen, who is married and does not have a RealDoll of his own, expects to see his creations become something more than merely sex objects. “A lot of people are focusing on the fact that it is a sex robot,” he says. “But it’s more [oriented toward] companionship. We are trying to create an alternative for people who don’t necessarily fit well into traditional relationships, people that struggle with social connections.”
Of course, a segment of that population might prefer for their RealDolls to refrain from doing too much in the way of thinking. No doubt, those slaves to silicon will stick with the pleasantly inarticulate models.