Yes, the plan will be to support simultaneous use of multiple devices.

The Vstroker/Fleshlight is a USB device and the Kinect camera and other motion-sensing cameras are typically USB, so as long as there is a device driver for every USB device, we should be good to go.

The challenge of course is making sure the sensations that occur in devices like the vStroker and RealTouch work with what’s happening on screen and in-game and that requires good old-fashioned programming.

ThriXXX’s Hentai 3D title has some non-human avatars. Ever since writing my (non-hentai) story for Tentacle Dreams, I’ve noticed tentacles everywhere in real life, in non-menacing ways: the plant that keeps trying to twine its way into my screen door, the curlicue decorations in a restaurant’s breakfast room, Rapunzel’s hair in Disney’s movie Tangled, a sculpture of a deer in a downtown gallery that has these amazing swirly antlers.

I’d love to see more of this sort of thing. One of the complaints about the current state of 3D sex games is that the avatars aren’t realistic enough and the animation not smooth enough to stop being distracting. Yet, we all know that will improve, and one’s imagination can fill in for a lot anyway. (I wrote about that in Sex Drive: Smart Girls Need Smart Porn.)

But if the characters aren’t trying to look like idealized humans, the engagement of getting into the fantasy can overpower the distraction of “hey that’s not how a boobie would move in real life.” (For me, anyway.) And since it’s going to be more engaging in a game than in a porn movie with actors in costume (I cringe just writing that!), it’s the perfect place to experiment. Especially with the slow but inevitable development of engaging more and more of the senses in various ways.

But.

ThriXXX has been active in the 3D sex game space for years, and you might have already seen its trailer for its Kinect-enabled hands-on game. Sure, the hand is dismembered, but if you’re into the game, you won’t even notice. If you have a powerful enough imagination to hook yourself into a game like this (and I do), a little thing like a Thing avatar isn’t going to toss you out of the scene.

You can already interact with some of ThriXXX’s games with a Fleshlight and the VStroker interface. I don’t know if the new game will support a Kinect for your limbs and body with a Fleshlight for your cock at the same time — I’ll email the guys and let you know their answer, I’m sure I have their contact info around here somewhere — but I sure hope so.

I know a few different folks are working on bringing motion capture to real-time interaction between people in 3D platforms. I see ThriXXX’s Kinect hack as an interim step, or maybe a practice ground, that combines mocap and teledildonics. The games get you used to strapping on transmitters and controlling your avatar with your whole body. The next step will be playing with professional performers through their avatars, and then sex with long-distance lovers.

Perhaps we can even have the cybersex Renaissance some of us have been hoping for, and there will be peace on earth and goodwill toward geeks. RAmen.

The interactive version lets you put green pins in all the countries you’ve visited and purple pushpins in those countries you’d like to visit. Then you save it and sent the link to all your friends…perhaps with an invitation to join you on your journey? It’s nifty and fun and easy to update as you go. However, like all cybersex, it lacks one thing: touch.

So now he’s offering it as a real-life, shiny, caressable poster for a mere $12 USD. To do that he’s collecting pre-orders for a minimum print run of 50. Here’s the info, pasted from the order form:

The Map of Human Sexuality is a poster and interactive Web site intended to show in a humorous way the scope and extent of the human sexual experience. Hang it on the wall, and push pins into it to show where you’ve been!

Poster specifications: 24″ by 36″ offset printed on 100# gloss paper.

ORDER FORM

NOTE: This is a pre-order. Posters will be printed when the pre-order sales reach 50 copies. If enough pre-order sales are not made by March 2009, the entire pre-order price (including shipping) will be refunded.

Posters will ship 12 business days after the threshold has been met. Pre-orders may be signed. If you would like your copy signed, please say so in the “Special Instructions” section of the checkout page!

Besides, sex supplies do make wonderful gifts. Like books and DVDs, your recipient can enjoy them again and again. And if you’re giving them to a lover, why, it’s also gift for you and for the relationship. How efficient! Everybody wins! Hey, you could even package them with a copy of Sexier Sex, which is chock-full of creative and practical things you can DO with your new sexy doodads. (Not to mention, it stimulates my personal economy, as every book sold gives me a better chance when I pitch the next one … LOL)

I’m sure all the sex stores have their own gift guides to help you select items for lovers, siblings (yes, sisters give each other vibrators), friends. My personal preferences, for gifts, lean toward quality and beauty in equal measure. Especially toward items a person might not buy for themselves. I’ll list some brands below, with the caveat that some are (significantly) more expensive than others, and that some are more effective than others depending on how you use them. That is, an Elemental Pleasures vibrator or an Eroscillator deliver more effective vibrations than the rubber duckies at Big Teaze, but they’re also several times the cost and are much more serious than a black rubber duckie in a purple boa. Likewise, I have a beautiful LELO vibrator with flowers painted on it that feels wonderful in the palm of my hand whether it’s on or off. I feel sensual and romantic when I stroke it, but it doesn’t do much for me as a vibrator.

My list mostly links to the brand website; you can get most of these products from various sex stores, or from Amazon or Drugstore.com. Note that these are not the only great sex gifts available. They are items I’ve used personally and feel good about recommending.

In order only of memory, not of preference:

Big Teaze Toyz cute vibrators
OhMiBod music-driven vibrators
nJoy stainless steel toys
Liberator shapes
Monkey Rocker gliders
ForYourNymphomation toy storage
Natural Contours pretty vibrators
LELO pretty vibrators
Onyx Game
Bliss Game for Lovers
Tantus dildos
O’my flavored lubes
JT Stockroom leather ‘n’ more
Kink.com subscriptions
The Guide to Getting It On (new edition)

Edited: I thought of more nifty sex-tech during dinner…

Aneros toys
Fleshlight male stimulator
Logitech webcam and Skype (free!)
RetroRaunch vintage porn subscription
Click Fore Play erotic audio drama (with sexy British accents)

Tons more, but I don’t want to keep adding things, especially if that makes this post go out on the feeds over and over again. Please feel free to add your sex-tech wish lists/recommendations in the comments!

You can use the keyboard and drumpad (which looks like the Simon Says game) to create your own sounds for the OhMiBod vibrator to respond to, or bring in music tracks for a richer experience. I haven’t figured out yet how to grant someone else control of my OhMiBod but I’m pretty sure that’s the point of the HUD, it being teledildonics and all.

Tomorrow is the official demo and launch so today’s top-secret, available-only-if-you-know-who-to-sleep-with HUD might not even be fully functional; after work I’ll test it out with my OhMiBod and see what I can figure on my own.

But it’s pretty, with a look-and-feel that matches the OMB rather than some weird cybertechno design or , and the big buttons are easy to click even for a Second Life dabbler like me. I was able to hear the music when another friend played with his copy of the HUD, which I like – if someone else is using music to control my vibrator, I want the whole room to hear. Heh.

You can use your OMB with Second Life without this HUD, by plugging it into the audio jack and going anywhere in-world with music or sound. But this promises to add that extra dimension of erotic connection between people.

The live party is at a private house and I’m not in charge of the guest list, but you can attend in Second Life, at Sextoy Dave’s Party Place in Eros the North Pole, home of Virtually Adult.* They’re doing all those Hollywood Lifestyle things (live and virtual), with strippers and celebrities and giveaways and DJs and swimming pools, but the important thing is the OhMiBod / Second Life HUD is finally out of NDA and that means I can talk about it.

For now, I’ll stick with the press release description, as I haven’t seen it in action (and Brian and Kevin, why haven’t I, hrmmmmm?).

The new interface uses a specially designed heads-up display (HUD) to control OhMiBod technology virtually. Players can get the HUD for free at Strokerz Toyz and VirtuallyAdult (two adult stores within Second Life) as well as at virtual social events sponsored by the OhMiBod Squad.

Once activated, the OhMiBod HUD allows the player to create music to affect the patterns of vibration, as well as control the intensity of those vibrations. Back in the real world, the OhMiBod also reacts to the music played at virtual events, where avatar DJs spin music at raves, parties, and nightclubs.

I’m not very good at publicly documenting things while I experience them, although my thorough test of the horrible Blowguard — a blowjob accessory so awful I didn’t even publish my response to it — proves that I can take pages and pages of notes with old-fashioned pens and paper while actually, er, testing.

But I’m going to ask my companions to remind me to twitter the OhMiBod demo if I have cell service up there. My Tweets aren’t public so you’ll have to request to follow me by, oh, noon on Saturday, so that I can approve you (and I won’t be hurt if you un-follow after the event, no commitment expected, heh).

*Correction from the organizers: SexToyDaves Party Place isn’t on Eros, it is at the North Pole, home of Virtually Adult. This is also where we will premiere the brand new Virtual Vending system that allows you to purchase real life products using virtual currency, in this case Lindens. What this does as you can see, is allows anyone in a virtual world to be anonymous with their purchase history, much like the “plain brown wrapper”!

I was a guest on Dr. Patti Taylor’s ‘Expanded Lovemaking’ podcast — went to her home studio to record and everything. We talked about sex tech now and tomorrow, the spiritual aspects of erotic social media, and a few practical tips from Sexier Sex.

Episode 40: Cybersex: Expanding Sex, Love, and Consciousness through Technology with Regina Lynn

In this show, hear Dr. Patti talk to Regina Lynn, sex-ed columnist for Wired.com and author of two books, including the just-released Sexier Sex: Lessons from the Brave New Sexual Frontier. Discover just how many people are using all sorts of technology – cell phones, web cams, and the Internet for fun, spice, and even healing. Hear Regina reveal her own journey as she and her partner get exposed together to the online world, and Regina learns to be orgasmic for the first time. Can you be orgasmic with an online partner? What instruments could you use? What would online sex sound like, or look like? Enjoy Regina’s descriptions of red-hot oral sex online, and how people might have hot encounters with their partners as well. Did you know you can send sexy pictures, voice messages, and more to a loved one? We even cover how to do this safely! Regina busts the myths that the Internet does not have “ordinary” people on it. It is full of normal people, though many of them may be trying on all sorts of new personae, or personalities. Learn Regina’s viewpoints on the future of online love. In the show, she gives lots of links and also shares some excitement with Dr. Patti about her fantastic new book, truly a comprehensive reference for anyone looking to meet new friends in this vast online world we live in today.

It’s a feature in a swinger magazine about using video games to get the group going. He mentions the Wii, the Playstation and the Xbox, and I’ll admit: I learned a thing or two myself.

Video Games: The New Social Lubricant
ne of the lifestyle’s many challenges is the same as any other social activity – getting to know and becoming comfortable with other other people. Add to this the fact that your end goal is often to get them naked and horizontal before the night is over, and the whole process can seem downright daunting.

Over the years, lifestylers have found many ways to facilitate some “bed shaking”, such as dancing and alcohol consumption. But as more of us from the “Nintendo Generation” have grown up and entered the lifestyle, another great option has presented itself: the video game.

Hardly just for kids any more (with the average gamer being 35 years old, according to the Entertainment Software Association), today’s new gaming consoles provide many fun new ways to warm things up and get people “playing” in the more interactive sense. Even the names of today’s gaming consoles seem like they were geared towards swingers…

How’d you like to come back to my “Playstation” so I can put my “Wii” into your “Xbox”?

A few games in particular stand out as being practically designed for lifestyle use.

Continued….