Teledildonics

Teledildonics (also known as "cyberdildonics") are electronic sex toys that can be controlled by a computer to reach orgasm. Promoters of these devices have claimed since the 1980s they are the "next big thing" in cybersex technology. "Teledildonics" can also refer to the integration of telepresence with sex that these toys make possible &mdash; the term was coined in 1975 by Ted Nelson in his Computer Lib/Dream Machines.

In its original conception, this technology was to have been used for remote sex (or, at least, remote mutual masturbation), where the physical sensations of touch could be transmitted over a data link between the participants. A report in the Chicago Tribune in 1993 suggested that teledildonics was "the virtual-reality technology that may one day allow people wearing special bodysuits, headgear and gloves to engage in tactile sexual relations from separate, remote locations via computers connected to phone lines."

Sex toys that can be manipulated remotely by another party are currently coming onto the market. These toys sometimes come with prerecorded movies to which the toys' actions are synchronized by means of a previously-written script. Other products being released fit a new category called bluedildonics, which allow a sex toy to be controlled remotely via a Bluetooth connection. A report in 2008 suggested that teledildonics, along with text and email and webcams, can be used to "wind each other up to fever pitch during the working day" as a prelude to sex with a human during the evening hours. New technologies can help people establish "emotional connections" via the web. A book reviewer of David Levy's Love and Sex with Robots in The Guardian in 2008 suggested that teledildonics was "but one stage in a technological and social revolution in which robots will play increasingly "attend to our needs with magic fingers"; Levy argued that by 2050 "sex with robots will be commonplace." Some products have been shown at the Museum of Sex in New York City.

There also exists a DIY community experimenting with teledildonics, centered on opendildonics.org, the Slashdong blog and the Arse Elektronika conference.