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Technology can let partners share intimate experiences across distance, create sexual experiences in virtual environments, or invite people to relate to robots and chatbots. But these are different uses at different stages of development—not one inevitable future. Jenna Owsianik’s The Future of Sex: How Intimacy is Transforming, updated by Futurism on January 12, 2017, surveyed five areas of possibility. Its prototypes and predictions are best read as a snapshot of expectations at that time, not as a guide to products available today.
What the 2017 forecast covered
Owsianik’s article grouped the changing relationship between technology and intimacy into five areas: remote interaction, virtual fantasies, robotic lovers, immersive entertainment, and human augmentation. The categories span very different things—from connected physical devices to speculative medical applications—so a prototype, a commercial product, and a prediction should not be treated as equivalent evidence.
| Area | Intended use in the article | How the article characterized it |
|---|---|---|
| Remote intimacy | Sharing sensations or sexual activity between partners who are apart | Connected toys and haptic concepts, including prototypes |
| Virtual fantasies | Sexual interaction in online worlds, potentially combined with VR and connected devices | Existing virtual-world experiences alongside a forecast of convergence |
| Robotic lovers | Interaction with sex dolls or proposed robotic bodies | Projects and plans, with release expectations that were forecasts in 2017 |
| Immersive entertainment | Adult entertainment, and proposed educational or therapeutic experiences | VR examples and proposals; effectiveness was not established |
| Human augmentation | Changing sexual function or embodiment through medical intervention | Medical developments discussed alongside speculative future applications |
Remote intimacy: physical devices across distance
Connected sex toys are the most direct example in the article of technology extending an existing relationship. Owsianik described vibrators and male sex sleeves paired with mobile or desktop applications. The idea was that a partner could control a device remotely or share sensations through haptic technology that records sexual motion and transmits it to another device.
The article also mentioned concepts such as long-distance kissing devices, VR haptic suits, and connected pillows. Those examples illustrate the range of experiments being imagined; they do not establish that a particular prototype became a widely available product. The article named Kiiroo and Vibease as companies selling connected toys at the time. That is historical context, not confirmation of their current products, compatibility, or availability.
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For a reader considering this category now, the source supports only the general use case: an app-controlled couples’ toy may help partners interact at a distance. It does not verify any current model or establish how a device handles data. Before choosing a connected product, check its current compatibility and privacy information directly with its maker rather than relying on a 2017 example.
Virtual fantasies: online worlds and VR
The article described adult virtual worlds where users could customize avatars and interact in real time. It then anticipated that virtual environments, VR, and connected physical toys might converge, making the boundary between virtual and physical sexual experiences less distinct.
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That convergence was a forecast, not a finding that the boundary has disappeared. A virtual world offers avatar-based interaction; VR adds an immersive visual environment; a connected device adds physical sensation. These elements can be discussed together, but they are not interchangeable, and the 2017 article does not establish how commonly they are combined today.
Robotic lovers: dolls, bodies, and expectations
Owsianik discussed sex dolls and the Realbotix project, including plans for robotic bodies and integration with VR. The distinction between a doll, a proposed robotic system, and a prediction about future interaction matters: the article’s release expectations were made in 2017 and should not be read as current product facts.
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Robotic systems also raise a separate question from remote toys or virtual worlds: whether a person experiences an interactive machine as a companion. A 2024 article in AI & SOCIETY, “Reconfiguring the alterity relation: the role of communication in interactions with social robots and chatbots,” describes how communicative and adaptive features can contribute to users perceiving companionship and intimacy. It does not show that such systems replace human relationships or improve them, and it identifies important questions about the effects of personalized intimacy as unresolved.
Immersive entertainment: experience is not proof of benefit
The 2017 article covered VR adult entertainment as well as proposed educational and therapeutic uses. Its examples included a consent-focused VR campaign and planned sex education work. These point to possible applications beyond entertainment, but a campaign or proposal does not demonstrate that a program is currently available, effective, or suitable for a particular person.
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That distinction is especially important when a technology is described as educational or therapeutic. The cited examples establish that such uses were being proposed; they do not establish measured outcomes. Without evidence about a specific program, its users, and its results, it is more accurate to describe these as possibilities than as proven interventions.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Human augmentation: medical developments and speculative futures
Owsianik connected transplantation, reconstruction, tissue engineering, and implants with possible changes to sexual function and embodiment. These are not all the same kind of development: a medical procedure or research area can have a present clinical purpose, while a prediction about how it may change future sexuality remains speculative.
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The article’s discussion supports a broad question—how could interventions that alter or restore bodily function affect a person’s experience of sexuality? It does not establish that the cited developments were designed to enhance sexual experience, nor does it support treating future applications as established medical options.
What later evidence says about digital intimacy
Later discussion offers a limited update to the 2017 forecast. The 2024 AI & SOCIETY article supports the possibility that people may perceive companionship or intimacy in exchanges with chatbots and social robots, while leaving the wider effects open. That is evidence about perceived connection, not proof of relationship replacement or improvement.
A June 9, 2026 LELO report, “LELO’s Future of Sex and Love Report 2026: ‘Analogue’ Intimacy Findings,” says that 60% of its survey respondents currently use or have used AI in relation to their intimate lives. This is a LELO-reported survey result; the available summary does not establish the survey methods or show that respondents represent the general population. LELO’s distinction between being digitally connected and feeling connected is the company’s framing, not an independent finding.
How to read claims about the future of sex
- Separate function from promise. A toy intended to transmit a partner’s input, an avatar world, a social robot, and a medical implant serve different purposes.
- Check maturity and date. Ask whether a claim concerns an available product, a prototype, a plan, or a forecast—and when the claim was made.
- Distinguish experience from outcome. A person may perceive intimacy with a chatbot or enjoy immersive content; that alone does not demonstrate an effect on relationships, education, or health.
- Check what is known about data. The 2017 examples do not establish current devices’ data practices. For a specific connected product, consult its current privacy information and terms.
- Keep the evidence in proportion. Neither the 2017 overview nor the later sources cited here establish that these technologies reliably improve relationships or substitute for human connection.
Conclusion
The 2017 article is most useful as a map of questions, not a catalog of today’s technology. Connected devices extend physical interaction across distance; virtual environments and VR create different kinds of mediated experience; robots and chatbots raise questions about perceived companionship; and human augmentation links sexuality to changing ideas of the body. The technology may change, but the evidence still needs to be assessed claim by claim: what exists, what it is meant to do, and what has actually been shown.
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