Sex Robot hits the market

TrueCompanion homepage

Yesterday, TrueCompanion released what it is marketing as “Roxxxy, the world’s first female sex robot” (with the promise of an eventual male counterpart to follow). Roxxxy is a full-body, 120-lb female bot dressed in lingerie that can purportedly carry a conversation, feel touch, and even have a simulated orgasm. Specifics are scant at the moment, as the TrueCompanion website seems to be over bandwidth limits today (imagine that). I imagine there was a lot of interesting engineering that went into making her “anatomically correct”- I’d really love to see some specs. 

The robot is intended as both a sexual and a conversation partner, with various personalities that can be swapped, modified, and even “shared with your friends over the internet” (!). The manufacturers are quoted as saying that the concept originated with a plan to create a robot that could store the personality of a friend lost in the 9/11 attacks- apparently they got side-tracked along the way. The default personalities range from “Wild Wendy” to “Mature Martha” and  ”Frigid Farrah”, and will adopt your personal likes and dislikes (sports, music, etc.). 

I find this aspect both fascinating and disturbing. Evidently this is a step up from the classic blow-up doll, which can’t tell you that she loves holding your hand, or , say, become an S&M goddess on command. While I’m not passing judgement on people who choose a synthetic companion out of necessity or preference, I wonder how compelling the illusion is (physical aspects aside), and what this will evolve towards: will we start to see a whole demographic of men whose expectations of women are skewed by intimate interaction with a female whose personality is entirely moldable and exchangeable at their whim? How will the robotic romantic experience affect relationships with real people? When does virtual reality become better than real life, and what does that mean for us as a society? 

Also, I’m expecting reports of a host of hilarious ‘technical difficulties’ if these things becomes widespread… haha ; )