settie

Anyone ever heard these words before? I know I hadn't until maybe half an hour ago.

I had heard awhile ago about a toy in Britain that uses text messages to control the vibrations from one of those bullet vibrators. Cool. :P

I first heard anything about it maybe 2-3 years ago, and my curiosity was piqued. At the time, it was only available in the UK from what I could see. Bummer.

I thought about it again tonight, and have spent hours looking for information. Its very hard to find any, to be honest. Here's what I've come up with.

For those of you that don't know what they mean:

Teledildonics are sex toys controlled through the internet. So far, there seems to only be one toy in existence that lets this happen, "The Sinulator." It looks like a remote control that works with 3-4 different toys. It is given a name, registered on their website, and from that point, anyone that knows its "name" can make the toy work. Interesting to say the least, but very much so confined to the computer.

Bluedildonics are sex toys controlled via Bluetooth Technology! Wow, am I the only one that finds that fascinating?! There only seems to be one toy in existence right now, "The Toy," available in the UK, and the US. Though, the US site doesn't even seem functional right now, as ordering the toy doesn't work (from what I could tell, at least). Unfortunately, it seems to only work with selective phones....just because your phone has bluetooth, doesn't mean it'll work.

I must be crazy, because I REALLY want "The Toy." My boyfriend lives 10 hours away from me, and we don't even see each other every 6 months. (Being a poor student sucks)

I think it would put such a crazy spin on our relationship sexually if we had this toy.

Of course, I run into several problems. One, I live in Canada, and its as if no one here has heard of this. Ever. Two, my phone isn't compatible, or at least I think so.

So I'm asking you TFPers

-Do you know about them?
-What do you think about them? Interesting? Stupid?
-Does anyone have one of them?

Or, if you know any more than I do, please share your information.

*sigh* I'd really like to get one. :P haha.

Charlatan

I was writing papers about teledildonics back in the early 90s as part of my final paper in a course called Post Modernism and the Arts. Of course, then, much of what I was writing about was speculation on the future uses of the Internet (still in the early days of wide public use).

I am torn between liking and hating the concept. On one hand there is a certain fun to be had with the toys but ultimately they are too alienating. I think we need fewer technologies that separate us physically from one another.

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

elgeebar

I first heard the word "teledildonics" in the late 80's... What was being talked about at the time was full VR immersion set-ups with suits made of electrically alterable materials (materials that change their touch and texture when stimulated with electrical signals of different frequencies)... This was fictional stuff with a solid basis in research (they had some basic materials working in the lab)... The goal seemed to be a full body suit you could put on, with a VR headset, hook up to the net and have a full "interaction" with somebody similarly attired on the other side of the planet. You touch something in the VR world and feel it through the body suit... Touch somebody and they also feel it... Of course there were suggestions of a new era in phone sex lines and all that stuff. I never heard any more about this for maybe 10/15 years... not even the word "teledildonics" till I saw your post today.

Thinking about it, I'm sure I read an article in Wired about it... maybe the long defunct UK edition?

Charlatan

The first reference in Wired that I could find was in 1993 (it's first year of publication) in issue 1.06.

1.06: Street Cred

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke