Virtual reality porn to be the next big thing
According to estimates by Piper Jaffaray, an investment bank and asset management firm, virtual reality porn will be the third largest sector for VR by 2025, after video games and NFL-related content. However, the projected advent of VR porn has therapists worried about the emotional and physical effects it might have on viewers.
Virtual reality porn is still the new kid on the block, however, its popularity is growing fast. The growth in VR porn's popularity can be partly attributed to companies like Oculus Rift and Samsung which are making VR headsets more affordable by the day. Secondly, in a bid to promote VR porn, porn site giant PornHub has launched the first free VR porn channel.
According to Alexa Internet, a company which provides commercial web traffic data, PornHub is the 65th most visited site on the whole internet!
Kiiroo, a sex toy manufacturing firm based out of Amsterdam, has grand visions for converting VR porn into VR sex. They have come up with toys which, synced to VR porn films shot from a first person perspective, "immerse" the viewer by providing physical pleasure. They have developed products for both men and women, and their main market is people in their 20s-30s.
UCLA professor Neil Malamuth, who has been studying the effects of porn on viewers for years, said "For some it [VR porn] may become a preferred form of sexual experience that is more physically and psychologically satisfying than having sex with a real partner".
According to a Newsbeat investigation, men in their late teens and early 20s are suffering from erectile dysfunction as a result of watching porn. The reason is that viewers' sexualities are getting attuned to porn which promotes unnatural expectations about sex. Therapists fear that the intimate experience of VR porn will further isolate viewers from real sex causing serious emotional and physical problems.
Psychosexual therapist Sarah Calvert says "Your self-esteem can have a really big knock if you're in these virtual reality experiences and you're looking down and seeing ripped abs, big penis and then you come back to reality and that's not the case".
