Amid the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toy exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an AI-driven shift in the industry were quietly pulsating.
China makes about 70 percent of the world's sex toys, much of it “hardware” on display at trade shows, whether it's technicolor tentacle dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls.
However, smart toys have been gaining popularity for some time now. Many big brands in Europe and America are already rolling out technology-enhanced products that can enable long-distance relationships, monitor health, and even bring people one step closer to the ultimate sci-fi fantasy: having sex with a robot. It offers.
Hannes Hartmann, European sales manager at Chinese sex toy company Svacom, says the integration of artificial intelligence has become more common over the past two years.
“But a lot of things are still in the early stages,” he told AFP on Friday.
Svakom, one of the well-known Chinese brands abroad, is one of the brands moving further into the field of teledildonics, which uses networked toys to create virtual sexual encounters .
One of the company's masturbators can sync with video to recreate the action on screen. Use pre-programmed content via Svakom's app or use an AI plugin that watches and mimics videos in real-time on approved sites.
The company has also partnered with a company that provides an AI chatbot called Fantasy Partner.
“You can ask the AI to control the toy,” Hartmann said. “You create your own girlfriend and you actually interact with it. And now they can basically touch your body through the toy.”
Beijing-based Systoke Technology, which made phone software before pivoting to the adult industry, also has an app that allows AI “girlfriends” to control toys.
Salespeople told AFP that demand from China's younger generation, with more disposable income and higher standards, was changing the market.
“We make sex toys, but we're trying to change the mindset of the community and move[the focus]away from pornographic things,” he said.
Sistalk's app acts as a social media platform, allowing users to interact and share their hobbies and things they love.
You can also connect virtually and control each other's sex toys.
“This is definitely a new trend. It's developing quite a bit in Europe. Many customers are looking for it,” said Malgorzata Zasada of Oninder, a company named after the dating app Tinder. .
“In Asia and China, it's not that popular right now. But things are changing, and I think it's going to be a new hit.”
Meanwhile, realistic sex robots still seemed a long way off. The few robots on display moved erratically, had limited audio, and didn't sync well.
~Towards market expansion~
Experts have flagged many unanswered ethical questions regarding the increasing use of AI for intimacy.
At present, the number of people participating in China is still small. Sistalk's domestic app only has around 500 users, a tiny fraction of China's population.
However, Asia Pacific is considered a major growth market for sex toys.
At the stall of a company called Wet Stuff, representative Ye Pei showed AFP a lubricant for China that the Australian company flavored with baijiu, a popular local alcohol.
Attitudes about sex have changed dramatically over the past few years, the 40-year-old muses.
“When I was 20 years old, when I went to the drugstore to buy condoms, I would just stuff them in my pocket and run away. But now… the clerk might say, “These condoms are super thin, and they'll last a long time.'' “If it were longer, these would have raised dots,'' he laughed.
Another change is the rise of “female power,” said a representative from BeU, a brand that focuses exclusively on toys for women.
“Rather than people being embarrassed about[adult products]people are becoming more and more accepting of them,” she says.
Toys are now incorporating aspects of happiness as well as joy through the use of technology.
One of the vibrators on display at the expo was touted as being able to predict ovulation by measuring internal temperature and also help train pelvic floor muscles.
Others are said to recognize when the user has reached climax and remember the pulse pattern that led them there.
The sophisticated silicone wares draw a marked contrast to more traditional food stalls, which feature walls of life-like, often giant plastic genitalia, without any technology at all. Ta.
“I think a lot of things are changing in the industry,” said Svacom's Hartmann.
“The technology side, AI… it's growing very quickly, so it's going to be very interesting to see where this goes. But we have big plans.”
Rev/Sco