Idealog.co.nz | The Transformation Issue
sextech
067
Up close and
personal
Being the world’s leading
authority on Sextech is a
role not many can claim. Here,
Cole gives some further insight
into her career as a mentor,
speaker and producer of
all things Sextech.What are some of the
most common misconception
about your role? I think people
really don’t know what to say
when I say I run a company
called the Future Of Sex. They
probably think it has something
to do with that creepy or weird
element of sex, or the sci-fi
movies we see, where you’re
plugged into the Matrix having
sex with a robot. People don’t
understand that so much of what
I do is based around humans and
being human and normalising the
conversations around sex.What is a typical day in the life
of Sextech’s trusted authority?
There is never a typical day,
ideally a lot of my day is spent
talking to people and listening
to people. So, talking stage at
the conferences, or those kind
of idea festivals. Then doing
some interviews for my podcast,
which means a lot of the day
is taken up with research.Is there anything surprising
about your role you wish people
knew? I don’t have a robot yet.
I think for me nothing surprises
me anymore, and that is my own
surprise. After three years, and
growing up with a conservative
background, it’s hard to
surprise me now!Besides your own successful
podcast, Future of Sex, what
are your top podcasts?
1 Making Daily History – It’s
got interviews with people that
have made history in some way,
including people that aren’t
even alive now.
2 Super Soul Conversations
with Oprah – I am obsessed
with Oprah.
3 Two broke queens – a very
Brooklyn centric podcast with
two hilarious hosts. ■“With VR, the highly immersive side is still very budget
looking, and what we’re seeing with VR is just the glimpse
of potential in Sextech. Naturally, the companies that
have the most money are the pornography companies,
but they’re only filming their content in 180. That isn’t
true virtual reality, it isn’t high sensory, it’s not captivating
and its more novelty than anything.
“With VR, potential comes back mainly to improve
education. Because it is an immersive environment, it can
go into different levels and it is great for education. This
could be a really unique way to go through and have a
VR education experience for your own sexuality.”
The robots are coming
Cole works closely with both government groups and
adult entertainment companies to make sure she is in
the loop with everything that is coming into her sector.
“Across the whole industry, I’m probably one of
the only people that have worked with government
social service departments as well as with pornography
companies to see how they’re innovating. I try to stay
impartial because I want to understand where it’s going,
and I want to be able to asses what’s happening. I think
if we bury our heads in the sand about pornography or
robotics or AI, these things start to get ahead in a way
where we’ve lost control or lost understanding about
what they do.”
Knowing Sextech from all angles means that
Cole is in a prime position to assess what needs further
researching and explaining. Again, what she circles
back to is increasing education, especially as it relates
to new technologies.
“Technology is a great connector, and there are so
many platforms coming out these days that are helping
to deliver a better education. But what strikes me after
researching this for three years is the most vulnerable
population is young women. They are people who are
still coming out to society predominantly with terrible
sex education based on a mix of anatomy lessons and
abstinence-only education.”
Connection established
In her push for more education, Cole makes an important
connection between technology and human connection,
saying that delivering education in person is important,
because that is where the biggest gap is.
“Education and these conversations are really the
main place where it needs human intervention. We can
build these amazing apps and have live video streaming
and collect data around how women bring themselves to
orgasm and deliver all kinds of tools. But we also must not
forget the human element.”
For Cole, this human element is often missing, and
Sextech among any other tech if used without a human
element can create shallow experiences which can be hard
to unlearn, especially as it comes to physical connections.
“Relationships now are all mediated through screens,
and young people specifically are forgetting how to have
face-to-face conversations. When it comes to intimacy,
now its transforming into something that is incredibly
scary for them, and then they have this whole tech
world which they have to navigate along with a different
type of connectivity.”
Of course, the Sextech industry does not come without
its issues but transforming our connectivity, Cole says,
must remain the main purpose of Sextech.
“Technology has the ability to both isolate and
connect us. And I think we need to understand and ask
ourselves, why we’re using technology and what are we
hoping to get out of it. We don’t ask these questions
anymore, we are in love with our phones like a partner,
we can’t leave or do anything without it.”
“That is the danger with technology,” she says. “At
first, it’s better than nothing, and we see it as such a great
tool. Say for example dating apps, now we can connect with
people in a 3km radius, and that’s amazing. But it’s when
technology becomes better than anything, when it’s used
in place of face-to-face conversations. Or we prefer dating
through a screen rather than in person, which is a real
problem because then you get shallow connections and
don’t learn to facilitate anything.”
Cole sees promise in Sextech, and has hope that with
proper education and awareness, it will enhance our lives
rather than rule them.
“If we use technology to facilitate a connection, or
learn about something new, and then take that into the
real world with other humans then it is doing a great job.
But we must keep asking the question: to what end? What
purpose does this have? Is it better than nothing or is it
better than everything?”
Sextech is working to improve our connected lives,
she says – but it can do so only if we allow it.Oh Nut
Buffer:
A wearable
that lets couples
explore comfortable
6'2';8!ࣅ32
during sex.Rape Axe
Condom:
A female condom
with teeth
designed to latch
on during a rape.