This weekend in Shanghai, amid the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos. And leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition. The beginnings of a quiet revolution in the industry driven by AI pulsed.
Roughly 70% of the sex toys sold worldwide are made in China. And the majority of this “hardware” is what’s on show at the fair. Whether it’s the vibrant, tentacled dildos or the incredibly lifelike, customized silicone dolls.
However, the popularity of smart toys has been growing for a while. Numerous well-known American and European brands currently sell technologically advanced products. That allow for long-distance relationships, health monitoring. And even a step toward the ultimate sci-fi dream: having sex with robots.
The last two years have seen an increase. In the integration of artificial intelligence. According to Hannes Hultman, Europe sales manager. For the Chinese sex toy company Svakom.
“However, a lot of this is still in its very early stages,” he said to AFP on Friday.
One of the more well-known Chinese companies abroad. Svakom, is one of those pushing the boundaries of teledildonics. The use of networked toys to simulate virtual sex—into new frontiers.
Via Svakom’s app, one of its masturbators can sync with video to mimic the actions on screen. Alternatively, it can use an AI plug-in. That mimics real-time video viewing on approved websites.
The business has also formed “fantasy partners” with businesses that provide AI chatbots.
Hultman stated, “You can ask the AI to control your toy.” “You truly communicate and make your own girlfriend. Furthermore, the toy now allows you to virtually touch your body.”
One feature on Sistalk Technology’s app lets an AI “girlfriend” control a toy. Sistalk Technology is a Beijing-based company that first made phone software. Before branching out into the adult market.
A salesperson told AFP that the market was shifting due to demand. From China’s younger generation, who had higher standards and more disposable income.
“While we make sexual objects, we’re also attempting. To change the perspective of our target audience. And make (also referred to focus) less sexually explicit,” he stated.
With the help of Sistalk’s app. Users can interact with one another and share their interests. And hobbies on a social media platform.
Additionally, they have the option of controlling other people’s sex toys virtually.
The CEO of Oninder, a startup that mimics how users swipe. Through matches on the dating app Tinder, Malgorzata Zasada, said,. “It’s definitely an entirely novel pattern, in Europe it’s quite developing — a lot of consumers ask for it.”
“It’s not that popular right now in Asia, especially China. However, it’s evolving, and I believe a new hit will result.”
Conversely, realistic sex robots appeared a long way off. The few that were on show spoke infrequently and with jerky movements.
Expanding the market – Scholars have identified the numerous unresolved moral dilemmas. Surrounding the increasing application of AI in intimate relationships.
The number of users in China is still quite small at the moment. There are only 500 users on Sistalk’s domestic app. Which is extremely small given the country’s population.
However, the Asia-Pacific area is thought to be a significant growth market for sex toys.
Ye Pei, a representative for the Australian company Wet Stuff. Showed AFP its lubricant, which is marketed to Chinese consumers and tastes. Like the popular local alcoholic beverage baijiu.
The forty-year-old pondered that attitudes toward sex have drastically changed in recent years.
“When I went to the drugstore when I was twenty, I would just put the condoms in my pocket and leave. Now, though, the salesperson might tell me that these condoms are incredibly thin. That they prolong your period, or that they feature raised dots,” he chuckled.
“Women’s power” has become more prominent. According to a representative of BeU, a company that only sells toys for women.
“Everyone is becoming increasingly capable to accept (adult items). And rather than feeling shameful about it,” she stated.
These days, toys incorporate elements of pleasure and well-being through technology.
One vibrator at the expo claimed to be able to train the muscles of the pelvic floor. And predict ovulation by taking the user’s internal temperature.
It is claimed that others can identify when a user is reaching a peak. And recall the pulse patterns that guided them there.
More conventional stalls, many with walls of life-like, frequently enormous, plastic genitals. That involved no tech at all, stood in stark contrast to the sleek silicone products.
Svakom’s Hultman stated, “I believe that there are a lot of things that are changing in the industry.”
The field of artificial intelligence is rapidly expanding. And it will be fascinating to observe the future developments in this field. However, we have ambitious plans.
