

Less than five years ago, the concept of being able to pleasure a partner by operating their sex toy from the other side of the planet was the stuff of wild imagination.
Less than 10 years ago, the idea of having sex with a stranger you met on the Internet was considered as desperate as it was dangerous.
Less than 20 years ago, the thought that you could access pornography, for free, from a device that lives in your pocket, was beyond comprehension.
Sex technology has, in the blink of an eye, revolutionised how we have sex, where we have sex and who we have sex with – so much so that elements of our sexuality would be entirely unrecognisable to our ancestors.
So, what’s next?
With the rise of sex robots, VR, and apps that counsel us through heartbreak, how is sex going to look for the generations that succeed us?
Bryony Cole, the world’s leading authority on sex tech and host of podcast Future of Sex, who will be speaking at Sydney event Vivid Ideas on Saturday May 25, has a pretty good idea.
In her research, which involves interviewing technologists, entertainers and sex therapists, she ultimately asks the question: What can we expect?
We won’t be overrun by sex robots
While sex robots are in development, and are in a lot of ways an exciting advancement, Cole can’t see them becoming mainstream anytime soon.
Cole believes they’ll be instrumental in helping people through sexual trauma, and perhaps as a tool to “make us better lovers”.
But, she tells Mamamia, “I certainly don’t think every family is going to have one of these as a replacement lover.”