Weird tech: headphones designed for watching porn

Consumer technology and porn go together like
cheap wine and regrettable one-night stands.
Whether you like it or loathe it, porn is a major
constituent of the world economy, generating
huge revenue and employment. What's more,
when it comes to technology, pornographers have
always been early adopters. Since the birth of
photography, they have been among the earliest
to identify and cash-in on the latest innovations.
You can thank pornographers and their patrons
for pushing through VHS, webcasting, camcorders,
and video MP3 players, and for killing Betamax
(Sony didn’t allow it’s tech to be exploited by
adult entertainment producers, therefore cutting
themselves off from the hugely lucrative porn
industry). We could arguably trace the dawn of
social media back to cybersex sessions in shady
chatrooms. Would YouTube technologies have
exploded quite so quickly had porn not got behind
the pioneering supportive technologies?
This week a new set of headphones from lovepals came into play.
Lovepalz have charged themselves with making
interactive sex more interactive, firstly with the
release of Zeus and Hera . A pair of sex toys
designed for long-distance lovemaking, each
contains an air pump which replicates the
movement and pressure applied by the other
partner to give users a “realistic representation of
intercourse.” I haven’t tried it out, so we’ll have
to trust them on that.
Lovepalz' latest release, the Ladobi, is a six-way
earphone set providing 360-surround sound,
optimised to accompany porn, steamy webcam
sessions, or even good old-fashion Skype phone
sex. The materials used in this particular “adult
video audio accessory” were specially selected so
that the high frequencies of speech ring out gin-
clear, whilst the intense bass feels heavy and
atmospheric (which would, I’m guessing, be great
for guttural diction or a thumping backbeat).
Lovepalz' innovations focus on engaging another
sense than just the visual in the consumption of
porn, constructing an immersive experience.
By Caroline Kent