We are part of a massive social experiment. Technology is changing what it means to be intimate right before our eyes.
For the first time in human history, we have the technology to experience an intimate relationship with fantasy partners, robots, and humans in faraway places we would never otherwise have the chance to meet–let alone have sex with.
In some ways, the social battles being waged today to support gender fluidity and orientation will become less critical as our lives, including our intimate ones, become more centered in virtual worlds. That’s because, in virtual reality, we will write our own script, develop new identities, and experience sexual adventures that we may feel too shy or awkward to initiate in real life.
Any biological limits of your physical body will no longer prevent you from literally feeling “as if” you are someone else or “as if” you are doing something else.
Here the boundaries blur considerably between virtual life and real life. For example, recent research suggests that memories we form in virtual reality may behave more like those of real-life experiences than memories of information shared in a 2-D environment. That’s probably because VR is such a visceral experience that we form body memories of our virtual experiences.
Similarly, we can experience powerful emotions in virtual situations identical to those we feel in reality. Lust, tenderness, and sexual attraction for example, can feel as real with your headset on as they can without it, so if it looks like a duck and acts like a duck.
Lynette, 73, was tired for sure. She was the primary caretaker for her husband, whom she quickly lost to Alzheimer’s. Despite her exhaustion, she was looking forward to leaving her complicated, heavy world for a while.
Greg, her favorite avatar and virtual opposite, was a powerful masculine icon with a super-sexy barbie doll girlfriend. Greg offered Lynette an intoxicating experience of power and control that she just didn’t experience in life these days–if ever. Lynette ensured her headset was powered up and ready for her juicy evening rendezvous.
In the back of her mind, she wondered if Greg really was a 38-year-old gorgeous hunk in real life. No matter, she never intended to tell him her real age.
Virtual lovers will arrive in various forms–such as within VR, augmented reality, and robotics. But all will aim to please – at least if that’s what you find erotic. In addition, depending on the type of virtual lover you engage, they may bring no emotional baggage to the relationship and may have no sexual or emotional needs.
Ultimately, VR will hold the most power when it gratifies our unmet needs or at least satisfies them more efficiently and effectively than we can fulfill in the real world.
Yet here’s the million-dollar question–what does this mean for humanity? It’s anyone’s guess right now. While most people ignore or disregard our increasing reliance on virtual intimacy, strong positive and negative opinions are voiced.
Comments