Videos show content in International Sign (left) and Austrian Sign Language (right).
Teledildonics are remote-controllable sex toys that transmit touch in real-time via vibrational patterns between two (or more) users. Inspired by sci-fi narratives, they aim at enabling sex at physical distance. The ability to combine teledildonics with virtual reality pornography further promises endless possibilities for sexual interactions.
To investigate how this idea is realized in practice, we took a deep dive into one Dutch teledildonics company, KIIROO.
The results
KIIROO portrays an imminent technologized utopia by promising that their products will revolutionize sexual relationships and improve the health and safety of their customers. However, while they present their claims as established facts, they do so without necessarily providing the required proof to back these up.
Further, despite claiming that their products are for everyone KIIROO’s presentations and design of their teledildonics rienforce cis-hetero-normative concepts of sex, intimacy, and relationships. Thereby a range of groups (such as queer and disabled people) are marginalized, ignored and effectively excluded.
Contrary to the company’s promises, we show how such enactments potentially result in a dystopia characterized by security nightmares around intimacies and dire consequences for mental and physical health, safety, and consensual sexual interactions.
The point
Design and marketing of a product cannot be separated. If we actually want to foster inclusivity, we also need to change the cyber toy stories we tell about intimate technologies.
You can find the full paper at the journal homepage.
