Sex, stress and teledildonics: could VR porn help men with bedroom hangups?
Sex therapists say virtual reality porn can support men in feeling more comfortable, empowered and confident in real-life situations
Adult performer August Ames on the set of a BaDoink virtual reality sex therapy shoot. Photograph: BaDoink VR
Olivia Solon in San Francisco
@oliviasolon
Mon 1 Aug 2016 12.00 EDT
Last modified on Wed 8 Sep 2021 05.10 EDT
The porn industry has been an early adopter of virtual reality, which allows the viewer to feel more like a participant in the action than a voyeur.
Now one of the companies pioneering VR porn is branching out into sex therapy, creating content designed to not only titillate but to educate and improve performance in the bedroom.
Its "Virtual Sexology" service will be offered as part of BaDoinkVR's regular subscription service, and aims to teach methods to help men become better, longer-lasting and more confident lovers. For extra realism, the VR films can be combined with "teledildonics" – connected sex toys that sync their movements and vibrations to the virtual action.
The content has been developed under the guidance of the marriage and family therapist Hernando Chaves. "People can experience insecurity and stresses of being sexual with other partners," said Chaves.
An actor wearing a 'teledildonic' sex toy. Photograph: BaDoink VR
"Virtual reality can help them feel more empowered and confident so that when they are in real situations they can decrease anxiety to get an erection or have one that lasts longer."
What's wrong with regular old 2D videos? "There's a distance," Chaves said. "With VR you feel as though you are more involved; there's more realism. It's a stepping stone into a real sexual experience."
The first Virtual Sexology videos star August Ames, a female adult entertainer who guides users through a series of exercises including breathing techniques, Kegel exercises and the "start-stop method", where the man stops stimulating the penis just before the point of ejaculation and then waits for up to a minute before starting again. This process is repeated several times.
Fans complain when the male star's hands or moaning creeps into the film, but they don't mind having the porn star penis
BaDoink VR director Todd Glider
"For my super fans, VR lets them feel like I'm really their girlfriend, which is way more personal than traditional porn. It's a lot more intimate because it feels like you're there," said Ames.
Shooting in VR is very different from a regular porn shoot. There are no scene changes, as it's all filmed from a first-person point of view, so that when the footage is viewed through a headset, the wearer experiences the scene through the eyes of the male actor.
The footage is shot using 360-degree cameras and multiple GoPro cameras to capture the wide angle range, so that when the viewer is wearing goggles they can move their head around and take in the entire room.
"It's very regimented," explained Todd Glider, CEO of BaDoinkVR.
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"It's shot from the male point of view and the male porn star can't really move, because the consumers don't want to see another guy's hands. So they have to lie there like a statue not moving, breathing or moaning or anything," he said.
"People think being on a porn set is cool and interesting, but these shoots can be tedious."
When the male star's moaning creeps into films, the fans, said Glider, "complain incessantly". "They say 'I'm not moaning, those aren't my hands' – but they don't mind having the porn star penis!"
Glider was inspired to launch sex therapy content after attending a meet-up in Barcelona, Spain, where VR developers were working on projects to address phobias such as heights and spiders. "I thought maybe we could do one in our wheelhouse – for people with sexual hang-ups," he said.
"We want to make you a better, more attentive lover. Assuming it takes off, we'll address premature ejaculation, impotence, fear of intimacy – for both men and women."