LauraTWK's 3DXChat Blog

National Sex Toy Day seems the perfect excuse to take a peek at what's happening in the world of pleasure technology. Not that I've ever needed much encouragement to investigate the contents of a bedside drawer, but this time I'm calling it research. If anyone questions my qualifications, I'll have them know I'm working towards an honorary doctorate in Applied Pleasure Technology. The practical component is coming along nicely.

So, my question is this; At what point does a sex toy stop being a toy? Is it when it starts learning what we like, talking back to us or looking suspiciously like someone we could take on a date? Or are all these clever new inventions simply the latest chapter in a very old human fascination with pleasure?

There was a time when the most technologically advanced thing in the bedside drawer was a battery-powered vibrator with two settings: on and slightly more on. Now we're talking about artificial intelligence, robotic companions and devices that might one day respond to our bodies before we've even worked out what we want. It's a remarkable leap. Although, knowing my luck, the future will still involve rummaging around for the right charging cable.

Sex toys have always been about more than their mechanics. They're about curiosity, pleasure, independence and sometimes finding ways to be close when being physically together isn't possible. Technology has expanded those possibilities considerably. One branch even has a wonderfully nerdy name: teledildonics, the use of connected devices to share intimate sensations across a distance. It sounds like a module from my imaginary Applied Pleasure Technology PhD, but it represents a very real way for people to connect. But the latest developments suggest we're approaching a more interesting question than how many speeds a toy can offer. What happens when the toy starts responding to us?

Consider the idea of a device that adapts to physical feedback. GetRude has been developing technology intended to use physiological signals to adjust stimulation, while IronAI's Bionic VaginaX has been presented as a system that responds to interaction and learns preferences. These are manufacturer ambitions and claims, not proof that a gadget can magically read anyone's mind. Still, the direction is intriguing. Instead of choosing a programme and hoping for the best, we might eventually have technology that notices what's working and adjusts accordingly. Personally, I'm still impressed when a gadget remembers its last setting. Remembering what I like might be asking rather a lot of both of us.

On one level, that sounds wonderfully convenient. On another, I'm not sure how I feel about a machine having a better record of my intimate preferences than I do. There's a difference between a toy remembering a favourite setting and an app quietly compiling a deeply personal profile. Who keeps that information? Can it be deleted? And is the device still useful if the company disappears or decides that the interesting features now require a subscription? I'd rather my pleasure didn't come with a monthly renewal notice.

Then we have the robots. Lovense has shown an AI companion doll concept, and Somnia Lab has discussed humanoid intimate robots, including its proposed Silicon Lord. Meanwhile, Jiggly Joy's Aura takes a different route by concentrating on an expressive robotic head. None of these should be mistaken for the flawless, emotionally intelligent androids of science fiction. Demonstrations, prototypes and promotional claims are not the same as a finished companion that works convincingly in somebody's home.

Even so, the ambition is revealing. Manufacturers aren't merely trying to build toys that move differently. They're experimenting with devices that speak, react, remember and give the impression of paying attention. And that changes the conversation considerably.

If a machine can remember your favourite music, ask how your day went and respond affectionately, does it remain just another gadget? Technically, yes. Emotionally, perhaps things get more complicated. People already form attachments to fictional characters, online personas and digital companions. Giving one of those companions a physical presence could make the experience feel much more immediate. Whether that's comforting, exciting, strange or downright creepy will probably depend on the person.

I can see why an AI companion might appeal to someone seeking a private space to explore fantasies, or to somebody who finds conventional intimacy difficult. It might even offer new possibilities for people whose disabilities make some forms of physical intimacy challenging. But I wouldn't want to pretend that a convincing response from a machine is the same as mutual affection between two people. The feelings experienced by the human may be real; that doesn't mean the software feels them back. Mind you, I can barely keep a houseplant alive, so the thought of maintaining a humanoid companion does make me wonder whether it comes with a warranty and a watering schedule.

There's another question here too: should the goal really be to make an artificial companion indistinguishable from a human one? Perhaps the most useful technology won't be the robot that imitates a partner perfectly, but the device that lets somebody explore pleasure safely, comfortably and on their own terms. Not everybody wants a mechanical boyfriend or girlfriend lurking in the corner of the bedroom. Some of us would be quite happy with a toy that works reliably and doesn't insist on chatting afterwards.

Teledildonics also makes an interesting bridge to virtual worlds. Connected devices already let distant partners share control and movement, while immersive digital spaces introduce the possibility of linking those sensations to an avatar's actions. Virtual worlds add another dimension. Anyone who's spent time socialising through avatars knows that an interaction doesn't have to happen face to face to feel personal. People flirt, fall in love and build relationships online, sometimes long before meeting in person, if they even ever do. As haptic devices and immersive experiences improve, the boundary between what we see in a virtual world and what we physically feel could become more interesting still.

And since we're discussing the future of teledildonics, I do have one rather specific request for Lovense: a remotely controlled cumming dildo. Imagine letting a long-distance partner control not just the movement, but the grand and sticky finale too. Purely a suggestion for the research and development department, of course, but I’ve got to put my honorary doctorate in Applied Pleasure Technology to use somehow!

Leaving my personal wishlist aside for a moment, there's still a considerable gap between what connected toys can do today and the promise of a fully immersive virtual bedroom. Synchronising believable touch with digital movement is a much harder challenge than making a headset display a convincing scene. But it's easy to imagine the appeal: shared experiences across long distances, more ways to express affection and opportunities to explore scenarios that wouldn't be practical in everyday life. At what point does a VR headset become part of someone's collection of sex toys? I suspect the answer has rather less to do with where it's stored than what it's being used for.

And I’ll openly admit that I’m already aboard the VR porn train using my Meta Quest 3. The experience of being immersed in a video showing a sexy partner going down on me while my synced-up Lovense toy buzzes in perfect time with the video, the duration and intensity of the buzzes varying to match the licks and kisses I can see myself receiving in the video is quite something.

Of course, there's a danger of becoming so dazzled by the technology that we forget the people using it. Consent doesn't become irrelevant when interaction happens through an app. Privacy doesn't matter less because the data comes from a bedroom rather than a bank account. And the ability to simulate intimacy doesn't automatically make a product good for every user or every relationship.

Nor is every new feature necessarily an improvement. I don't need artificial intelligence in absolutely everything. Sometimes a straightforward, well-designed device is exactly what somebody wants. If the future involves spending fifteen minutes troubleshooting Bluetooth while an AI assistant cheerfully asks whether I'm still there, we may have taken a wrong turn somewhere.

What excites me most is the possibility of more choice. More ways for long-distance partners to share experiences. More accessible options for people with different bodies and needs. More room for curiosity, experimentation and pleasure without assuming everybody wants the same thing. The technology is interesting, but what people choose to do with it is far more interesting.

Perhaps that's the question I keep coming back to: when technology can respond, remember and even appear to care, are we still talking about sex toys? Maybe we are. After all, toys have always been tools for imagination, exploration and pleasure. Perhaps these are simply more elaborate versions of the same idea, even if some of them look increasingly like companions rather than gadgets.

I don't expect robots to replace romance, and I'm certainly not trading human connection for a device with a customer-support chatbot. But I'm curious to see where all this leads. If the next decade brings technology that helps people enjoy their bodies, communicate better and feel closer to one another, that sounds like progress to me.

So what do you think? Are we moving beyond sex toys, or have our toys just grown up? And whatever we decide to call them, please don't make us watch an advert before the good bit.

And now the part where I shamelessly shill for my favourite sex toy company...

If you've not dipped your toe into the waters of teledildonics and would like to give it a try, why not treat yourself to a little something from the Lovense store today? Every purchase made using this link will also earn me a little bit towards the next toy that I'll be picking up from them for review (I'm looking at you Glint).

Need some help choosing which one to go for? Then check out all my hands on reviews to see if any of them fit your pleasure needs!

So this will be a very brief Halloween Party report because, due to other commitments, I turned up fashionably late. Like literally for the last hour of what I think was a 5 hour event. To be honest, I didn't even bother checking the time that doors opened because I knew I wasn't going to be around at that point.

All I knew was that it was scheduled to go on to at least midnight and I wouldn't be able to get there until 11:00PM at the very earliest. Which, coincidentally was the time that Perrie was due to start her DJ set. Good news because I do like to show my support for her as one of the few DJs who bothers to understand the assignment related to each event she spins at, rather than just playing whatever she fancies regardless of how appropriate it is or not.

Plus, she had teased me with the inclusion of a couple of legendary bands with roots local to me so I had to be around for those. I had a pretty could guess at one of them, mostly because of them having a very Halloween appropriate song and, sure enough, that was one of them. The other one was very obvious, being one of the most famous bands in the world, but I wasn't sure if there was a song in their catalogue that Perrie would choose to include. In hindsight, I really shouldn't have had any doubts.

Anyway, apart from that, there's not a huge amount to report. It was a pretty standard community party. Huge arena full of dancing bodies, most of which were dressed in a variety of costumes; some spooky or scary, some just random cosplays from pop culture.

Oh yes, and I finally got to try putting together a cosplay that I had been thinking about for months. Sadly, I couldn't find any suitable gloves to finish it off so I feel like it ended up being a bit half-arsed but I was determined to give Jean Grey's Marvel Girl outfit a go. Well, I knew I had to do one of the X-ladies and I'd done Emma Frost in the past so that ruled her out. And Jean Grey has always been one of my two favourite X-ladies (along with Psylocke) so repping an iconic redhead seemed the way to go.

As a bonus surprise, I found that Emmy had also gone for an X-men theme by cosplaying as Rogue. A nice surprise that we were thematically aligned like that. Maybe next year I will try to organise I few more peeps to help us organise a whole squad of X-men...

And that's about all I've got to say about the party. Since I arrived so late and wanted to spend time with peeps like Emmy, Chey, Jess and Ty, I didn't really have any opportunity to go wandering around to take a closer look at the venue and try to capture all the little details that may have been included. Oh well...