Cosmopolitan UK — June 2017

COSMOPOLITAN · 107

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Thankfully, the prognosis isn’t fatal,
and most – Weiss says – should be
able to enjoy cyber-sexual activity
without becoming addicted, just as
most people are able to enjoy things
like alcohol, gambling, video gaming
and recreational drugs without
becoming hooked. “For the most
part,” he continues, “it’s only people
who are inherently vulnerable to
addictions and psychological
disorders (usually thanks to a
combination of genetics and
unresolved trauma) who struggle.
“Human beings are adaptable. The
vast majority of people will accept
VR, adapt to it, and learn to use it in
healthy ways. Others will struggle.
The people who adapt will survive
and thrive, and those who don’t, won’t.”
But those who don’t – what
becomes of them? VR porn is so
all-consuming, so reality-blocking,
that it’s not hard to imagine somebody
who’s going through a rough patch

• the aftermath of a break-up, for
  l h
  f f

than is healthy. And while it’s fair to

say that many people in long-term

relationships accept that their

partners use porn when alone, are

they likely to feel as accepting of their

partners regularly getting their rocks

off, one-to-one, with virtual hotties?

And if you just can’t imagine your

man getting all steamed up with a

VR headset on, consider that just 20

years ago, masturbating in front of

a computer screen was considered

beyond the pale; just 10 years ago,

masturbating while watching a phone

screen was thought of in the same way.

It’s the day after Joel and Katana’s

shoot, and I’m at BaDoink’s slick

offices in Barcelona’s city centre. Clos

has fired up BaDoink’s most popular

title – a guide to better lovemaking,

entitled ‘Virtual Sexology’ – and

Hernandez has lent me her Oculus

Rift headset to watch it on. With

a starting price of £499, the Rift is a

serious step up from the £60 Samsung

Gear I tried yesterday. The immersion

i g

.

BEHIND THE

SCENES

Joe Madden

“Being pitiably ancient and

jaded, I rarely experience

a literal jaw-drop now –

but my first experience of VR porn had me

shook. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it, but

if ‘normal’ porn is weed, VR porn is crystal

meth – anything that potent will impact

society once it’s ubiquitous, which, for

better or worse, it very soon will be.”

I’m in a bland, upmarket hotel

room. Porn star August Ames is

rising from a four-poster bed and

shimmying towards me, tracing

the outline of her breast through

a half-unbuttoned blouse. A female

narrator is extolling the virtues of

deep, controlled breathing during

sex, and Ames is now inches from

my face, demonstrating said

technique. Now she’s undoing her

blouse, moaning and purring, staring

into my eyes... and, goddamnit,

I can’t help but be drawn in. I yank

the Rift from my head, again

unwilling to risk a public

tumescence. “Yeah, that’s, uhh...”

I manage to stammer. Hernandez

and Clos are chuckling.

Hernandez has ambitious plans for

where BaDoink goes next. “I’d like to

create a series with a story running

through it,” she says. “So it’s not

always these one-off, 20-minute

scenarios. And we’re looking at VR

porn for women, but the challenge is

that, unlike men, women don’t have

external genitals. If you look down at

penetrative sex in VR from a female

point-of-view, you can’t see what’s

‘happening’. But there are ways

around that, if you shoot with

a very flexible model.” Oh my.

Hernandez and Clos are aware that

we stand right on the precipice of

the world being forever changed by

what they’re pioneering. “Oh, this

is the future,” says Clos, with casual

confidence. “Once people try VR porn,

that’s it. They don’t ever go back.” ◆

t

s f y

j I

p
example – retreating into that
carefree, numbing world far more

yy

is overwhelming and leaves me

idiotically slack-jawed.

VR doesnot

stand for visually

ridiculous, just FYI