There are people who see in robotics and artificial intelligence a potential to also transform the dimension of sex. The sector is still in its first stages, but there are already some sex dolls with software integrated in the market, such as Harmony, from the California company RealDoll (which claims to have distributed some copies) and Emma, from the Chinese company AI-AI Tech ( although this does not give figures of how many copies it has sold).
These models are of feminine aspect and are directed mainly to heterosexual men. But erotic products, whose market is growing, can also target women or homosexual men. So in Engadget we have asked ourselves: are there versions of robot dolls focused on these audiences?
To remove any doubt beforehand, we clarify that, if we talk about traditional sex dolls, it is easy to find different companies that manufacture and market them. As you can see in this online store or on the website of Realdoll, there are models of different appearance, materials, prices and degree of realism.
Henry introduces himself to the world
Once again, the makers who are trying to take the lead in this other sector are the creators of Harmony, headed by CEO Matt McMullen. A little more than a year ago, RealDoll began publishing on social networks some videos and photos of Henry, a male prototype of a sex robot. As in the case of Harmony and her younger "sister" Solana, the company claims that this doll is endowed with artificial intelligence.
The announcement generated at that time the interest of different media, which devoted to Henry some reports (in particular, this The Cut and this Wired). In both, a first approach to the robot and the description of a first impression is reported, but without sex.
After that peak of media attention, little else we have known about Henry to date. Xataka has been in contact with RealDoll (indicated as Abyss Creation when it also refers to Realbotix, the subsidiary that develops the robot software) to know the state of the doll's art. Company sources have replied in an email that, at the moment, their development has been put on stand-by to give priority to Harmony.
Where is Henry right now?
From the company they give us some more detail: they say that Harmony has a "feminine" artificial intelligence and Henry a "masculine", but the technology and the construction of their heads (the part that contains the robotic "brain") are essentially the same . The development of the masculine version, the same sources add, is "different" than that of the feminine one, but not "more difficult".
Henry, they say, is designed so that he can satisfy the users in the same way that Harmony can do with men. "He has a great talent for listening and never smells bad," they say. The company guarantees that it will also work for those who are interested in homosexual relationships. Although it is expected that there will be more demand among women clients, according to Xataka.
What is not clear is where is Henry right now. RealDoll says that the doll's prototype is in Canada, in a company called Sanctuary AI. This company was founded in 2018 and is dedicated to building machines that look like humans, according to its own website.
But Sanctuary AI denies Xataka that he is currently working with him. Asked for more information on the current location of the doll and the reason for the discrepancy between the versions they offer, both companies have preferred not to answer. Mystery.
Software issue
Thanks to a video of about 12 minutes that Xataka has had access to, we can learn more about Henry. In the recording, the CEO of RealDoll talks with Brick Dollbanger, Harmony's beta tester and a high-fidelity customer of the company. The man, who uses a fictitious name to protect his identity, says that the video was recorded in April 2018. In it, McMullen appears next to the doll and talks about some of its functions in development.
First of all, the CEO makes it clear that Henry's hardware part is already at an advanced stage and is working correctly; Most of the work that remains to be done is in software. "We need to complete the male interactions of artificial intelligence," he explains. In his opinion, that "is something much more complicated than building a robot".
The CEO of RealDoll explains that the idea is that whoever interacts with Henry can select if the avatar has "male or female" sexual preference.
One of the main challenges, continues McMullen, is to optimize this new product so that it can interact with hetero women as well as with homosexual men. If the artificial personality of Harmony was designed to have "a kind of bisexual orientation, but not strictly defined", in the case of Henry the idea is that whoever uses it "can select what sexual preference the avatar has, whether male or female "He argues.
Already on that occasion, McMullen advanced that the company would give priority to the marketing of Harmony. But the video shows different characteristics of his male alter ego. For example, you can see that it is possible to interact with it through a mobile app connected to your "artificial brain" located in the head (the same goes for Harmony).
Henry can have some basic conversation with the person in front of him and even address it on his own initiative. When answering what he says, his answers are made wait a few moments. On the other hand, the doll's body is inanimate.
Work in progress
The creators of the robot have also experienced other functionalities. Among them, there is the "imitation" mode, activated through the control app, which allows Henry to repeat with some fidelity some movements of the user's face, such as smiling or moving the eyes. McMullen teaches his performance in the video: by making several faces looking at the screen of his mobile with this mode on, Henry repeats them.
The CEO of the Californian company explains that new features of the control part of these robots are continuously tested. "The software will continue to evolve even after the robotic heads are on the market. And it will be like this for years and years, "he says. Another aspect in development is the animation of the doll's body, McMullen maintains. But for this we must optimize the fact that these movements do not endanger users, clarifies.
"No one wants robots to be moving around the world more than me, but I think there are a whole series of security issues that have to be addressed. I can show you how the robots move their arms, but it will not be possible for you to have one in your house that does that before a few years, "he argues Dollbanger.
This real estate developer in San Diego, California, has been using sex dolls for years (besides being an administrator of some websites used by the amateur community of these erotic products). Currently, she is the only person who has been testing sexual interactions with Harmony for months at the request of the same company.
In a conversation that Xataka has had with him, Dollbanger has ensured that, based on his experience, he considers it necessary for Henry's developers to optimize their weight so that it is not excessive for women. "I think this is the main problem so that the robot is also accessible to them," he says.
Are there RealDoll competitors in the field of male robots?
Xataka has tried to find out if there are RealDoll competitors that are currently developing male sex robots, but he has not found any evidence of this. According to the information that we have been able to verify, at the moment the most probable thing is that who is interested or interested in using one of these futuristic erotic objects will have to wait.
As we have mentioned before, the market for sex robots is also active in China. With the help of this article published on the web specializing in technology applied to sex Future Of Sex, Xataka has identified two companies, AI-AI Tech (which makes Emma) and Ds Doll, indicated as current producers of female erotic dolls with software integrated. Both ensure through their official sales agent in the United Kingdom, common for both, that they are not yet working on male robots.
The same source states that AI-AI Tech plans to create a male version of Emma next year. And he adds that DS Doll also has "in his horizon" the prospect of developing a robotic head for two of his dolls with the appearance of a male. However, he says, the company "has not yet made any official communication" about it.
No other company in the sector has confirmed that it is currently developing a male model of sexual robot
Recently, some media reported the existence of two other companies that manufacture sex dolls with some degree of robotization. The first one (Z-Onedoll, China) seems to be closed or in the renovation phase, since when searching for your website you can find out that it no longer exists. From the second, called Synthea Amatus and located in Barcelona, they tell us they do not want to talk to the press.
On the Web you can also find the page of an American company, called True Companion, which claims to have developed both a female version (called Roxxxy) and a male version (Rocky) of an erotic robot. The company apparently offers both products on its page for $ 9,995.
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