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A sex doll was so heavily molested by eager men it broke before anyone could actually use it. Or use it privately, anyway.
We're not entirely sure what happened to 'Samantha'. But its owner complained that the £3,000 robot was left "heavily soiled" after being exhibited at a tech fair.
Developer Sergi Santos, from Barcelona, Spain, says visitors to the Arts Electronica Festival in Linz treated the 'intelligent' sex doll "like barbarians", and added that two fingers were broken in the melee.
"The people mounted Samantha's breasts, her legs and arms," Sergi said. "Two fingers were broken. She was heavily soiled."
Sergi added that the robot had to be sent back in a parcel to Barcelona for repairs and cleaning after being left so filthy and broken by the never-ending male attention.
But said: "Samantha can endure a lot, she will pull through."
Not sure I could get a 3,000 pound robot up to my 3rd floor walk-up...
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 29 2017, @08:04AM (5 children)
Pardon me, if I post AC.
I can actually see using a sex doll, if the things weren't so awkward. It's really only one step sideways from watching porn - a different way of fantasizing about something. There's a pretty common problem for older men: many of us have wives who have totally lost interest in sex. When that happens, you have a decision to make. If you decide to stay in the marriage, and if you don't want to be unfaithful, then something one step above a hand and a tissue might be nice.
There are also people who, through no fault of their own, will never have a sexual partner. Whether they are physically handicapped, suffer from psychological problems like depression or anxiety, or something else - short of visiting a prostitute (and why shouldn't they?), this may be the closest they ever come to sex.
That said, the awkwardness of moving the damned doll around, cleaning it, stuffing it in a closet - that's completely impractical. They need to become true robots, capable of putting themselves away, and also capable of "participating" somewhat in the sex. Then you're going to see these things fly out of the stores.
(Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Friday September 29 2017, @02:53PM (1 child)
Somewhat selfcleaning could be solved with a decent waterproofing of internals and an "overall" and that you just out it all in a bathtub, hook up hoses to overall and inlet in doll (with proper design you coukd make this like an enena and then just rinse for a while and let it drain. Bonus if you also have an airflow machine to dry it all (even better it if has an automatic Y-valve that switches between water/air/off as source).
For partial participation I guess the easiest would be to have it selfstabilise/selfrighting/return-to-default (hello servo-motors) when on all fours.
Actually seems like fun engineering to kill off a few afternoons.
(Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Friday September 29 2017, @02:56PM
A quick look in an english to english dictionary tells me "jumpsuit" would have been a bettee choice of word for overall/coverall/jumpsuit
(Score: 2) by Nuke on Friday September 29 2017, @07:57PM
You listed types of people with "obvious" obstacles. But there are increasing numbers of men without any of those problems who will never find a sexual partner due to the disparity in numbers of available women. Now that women can earn as much as men in the West, many of them have no compelling reason to find a man, especially as the average female sex-drive is less than the male's. Many women might have a fling for a year or two, possibly have a child (quite likely a dozen such women by the same Jock), and then retire from the dating/mating scene for the rest of their life. The old morality at least tended to fix people up on a 1-to-1 basis, which is about the natural sex ratio.
In the East, there is still a tradition of killing girl babies (or aborting them) leaving a disparity in the sex-ratio. Hence the ladyboy culture, which a Chinese friend of mine says is quite common in rural China, not just in the tourist hot-spots. In some areas their problem is exacerbated by the export of the best of their best womanhood to the West as prostitutes and bar girls, or to the tourist hotspots to service Western men, which of course is partly a result of those Western men not being able to find Western women at home, as above.
It is hardly surprising then that there will be a rising demand for sex robots. Personally, I have none of the "obstacles" mentioned above, and in fact tick most of the boxes of what women are supposed to look for in men (well-to-do, good shape, courteous, good job etc), but even then I found it very difficult through my 20's to find a suitable partner, and only then through dating organisations. If I had my time over again I don't think I would waste it again trying for Western women; but I'd draw the line at sex-dolls, I think for now.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 29 2017, @09:35PM
Same AC disclosure.
I love my wife. The issue is she can have one orgasm per week, rarely two. I on the other hand can't have sex once per week because my erection would be so weak she would not get her orgasm. I need daily sex - well, say 5 times per week - to have a reliable erection and no early ejaculation. She understands and has sex with me more often regardless, but it is not enjoyable to her and this makes me to want sex less which does not help erection. WTF am I supposed to do? Get one or two weekly lovers? It would break her heart.
I can't get away with masturbation either - same erection issue - even though it is acceptable to her. A robot would work, I think, and just may be acceptable to my wife.
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by FatPhil on Friday September 29 2017, @10:03PM
Pardoned, Aristarchus, that is your right, and I will uphold it till my dying breath.
> I can actually see using a sex doll, if the things weren't so awkward. [...] moving the damned doll around, cleaning it [...] They need to become true robots, capable of putting themselves away
Absolutely, and this is one direction where technology is showing absolutely no signs of slowing down its advances. Not soon perhaps, but I can see something ticking all those boxes as near in the future as the first microprocessor was in the past.
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