Year: 2016

Saddos only? Nope, happily married dudes just as keen apparently

Well over a third of men would happily splash out on a humanoid sex robot in the near future, academics have found – despite there being no viable product on the market right now.

Researchers from the University Duisburg-Essen quizzed 263 chaps on their robo-amorous leanings, and co-author Jessica Szczuka presented their findings at the Love and Sex and Robots Conference at Goldsmith’s University yesterday.

They found that a stonking 40.3 per cent of the sample said they would “buy such a robot now or within the next five years.” Just to be clear, for the purposes of the survey, the researchers said sex robots can be understood as android robots (robotic replicated women or men) that are “built to satisfy sexual needs.”

“For this purpose,” the researchers continued, “the robots do not only provide replications of some secondary sexual characteristics (e.g. breasts), but also external genitals (e.g. labia). As this description would also be suitable for hyper realistic sex dolls, sex robots are also capable to move (especially with respect to movements that are important with regard to the fulfilment of sexual needs) and speak.” The latter of which might suppose some form of AI.

As the researchers note, “At present, there is no sex robot available that is suitable for the masses and that provides all the features listed above.” And if and when they do appear, they’re not going to be cheap.

You might immediately summon up a mental image of who is most likely to put such a non-existent product at the top of their shopping list, and we’re guessing there’s a pizza-stained T-shirt and a possible lack of personal grooming involved.

However, this isn’t borne out by the research. The paper says the 40.3 per cent figure “highlights that sex robots could be of interest for more than only a fringe group.”

Even more surprising perhaps, whether respondents were already in a relationship, or had a fulfilling sexual life, had no bearing on their (potential) feelings towards robo-playmates. Similarly, general loneliness had no particular bearing on respondents’ interest in sex bots.

Rather, pre-existing attitudes towards robots and “anthropomorphic tendencies” ie, the “tendency to ascribe human characteristics to non-human objects” appeared to be the strongest indicators of the desire to buy sex robot.

Put plainly, people who are already wary of robots are unlikely to want to have sex with one. Likewise, the fact that people who already had a tendency to anthropomorphise objects – perhaps becoming overly attached with their cars, for example – definitely wanted to move beyond just liking robots. Though the researchers also speculated that “it could be imaginable that clients who pay a lot for sex robots are aware of the fact that robots are non-human, which could prevent their evaluations from falling into the uncanny valley.”

This is all just the beginning. The researchers accept that the study could be improved with a wider sample, and say “it should be a long-term goal to investigate real interactions between humans and sex robots. And let’s be honest, someone needs to actually invent a viable sex robot before things move from wish list to shopping list. ®

Sponsored: Customer Identity and Access Management

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/12/20/love_robots_on_shopping_lists/

Ethics expert has built ladybird-sparing vacuum cleaner

The possibility of sex robots over-exerting their human lovers to the point of collapse is just one of the ethical conundrums academics and society need to get their head round, a Swiss academic told a conference on sex robots today.

Oliver Bendel, of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Northwestern Switzerland, told the Love and Sex and Robots Conference at Goldsmith’s University, that the full range of machine ethics questions can – and should – be applied to sex robots.

Machine ethics sees machines – whether self-driving cars, chatbots, military drones, and presumably, your basic pleasure model – as potential moral agents in their own right, he said.

This raised the question of whether sex robots should have moral skills, in addition to their other more tangible skills, and “if so, which ones?” If they did, he continued, should these be simple “duty ethics” or should they also be mindful of the consequences of their decisions. Could robots enter into contracts?

Certain questions were particularly pertinent, he continued.

These included whether sex robots should be able to “entice” users. This is not just a question or applying some hair gel and a happy-go-lucky expression. Just imagine all the wiles of Google, or mobile games makers, applied to enticing you to keep pressing that button…or whatever.

Another key issue, he said, was whether robots should have the capability of “refusal” in “extreme” circumstance. Similarly, he continued, should robots be compelled to reveal they are, indeed, robots.

Other, arguably less elevated questions, included whether the sex robot should be “available” to a human at all times – something unlikely with most human lovers. At the same time, he asked, how should issues of shame on the part of the human partner be considered – and indeed where would the use of sex robots be considered unacceptable.

The proliferation of sex-robots – presumably able to incorporate data and feedback to constantly up their game – could have a physical effect on their human lovers, and beyond, he warned.

Human sexuality has certain “physical limits” he said, particularly in the male of the species. Robots, on the other hand, were potentially tireless. This could have a knock-on effect for a robot’s human partner, and indeed the partner’s partner. “If the machine over-exerts the human, it reduces the possibility of human sex,” Bendel warned.

Beyond that, Bendel said, what about the effect on those who are supplanted by dedicated machines, or those who are unable to afford such gadgets.

Ethicists and developers could go some way to answering these questions, he said, though ultimately the whole of society had to make a call. AI and robotics are both advancing at a rapid clip, the conference was told, and a number of speakers suggested it should not be left to the traditional porn industry to make these decisions for us.

Even the most dedicated researcher will need a break from grappling with them from time to time. Indeed, Bendel revealed that his most recent project was a ladybird-friendly vacuum cleaner. The device will clean your floors, but if it detects ladybirds and other little critters, it will stop and shoo them away to safety. However, he added, the team had included a kill button for arachnophobes. ®

Sponsored: Customer Identity and Access Management

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/12/19/love_robot_ethics/

You could soon have ultra-realistic sex with your favourite celebrity crush using virtual reality headsets, a technology expert said.

New equipment coming on to the market in the gaming industry could be utilised for the most realistic porn ever.

Prof Lynne Hall, from the University of Sunderland’s computing, engineering and technology department, said virtual reality headsets are becoming cheaper and more sophisticated.

She said: “If you want to be Kate Winslet standing in front of Leonardo DiCaprio, that can happen.

“Technology means we can have, quite quickly, something that is a fantastic form of sexual experience.

“The porn sector will do this if there’s a lot of money in it and there will be a lot of money in it.”

Prof Hall added: “Leisure sex is increasingly socially acceptable and pornography is very widely accessed.

“We live very small lives dominated by smartphones. This fits very well into that lifestyle.”

Prof Hall was speaking at the Love and Sex with Robots second international congress at Goldsmiths, University of London, as she presented a research paper called ‘sex with robots for love-free encounters’.

The paper explores the “technological advances for pornography and their relevance for such fantasy sex robots… through the integration of virtual reality, tele-dildonics, soft and wearable robots”.

It says robotics could “support love-free sexual pleasure… across a range of domains”.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ultra-realistic-digital-sex-headsets-9491515

The sex robot industry is thriving, with some academics predicting that humans will be having more sex with robots that with each other by 2050.

But while many people find the idea of sex with a mechanical object abhorrent, academics are keen to find out who is most willing to embrace (literally) this new technology.

Speaking at the Love and Sex with Robots conference at Goldsmiths, University of London, Jessica M. Szczuka from the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany took on the preconceptions of lonely men shacking up with cyber-lovers.

“I wanted to see what kind of characteristics influence the use of sex robots,” she told an audience at the conference.

“We react towards computers and machines as we do with human beings. This involves showing empathy and keeping an interpersonal distance with robots.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Szczuka’s research found that “anthropomorphic tendency” (ascribe human attributes to) was a positive predictor of intention to buy a sex robot and “negative attitude toward robots” was a negative predictor of intention to buy a sex robot.