Dildonics are electronic sex toys that can be controlled by a computer. Promoters of the devices claim that they will be the next "big thing" in cybersex technology. Teledildonics (also known as Cyberdildonics) is the integration of telepresence with sex. The term is considered somewhat humorous and speculative but not so much that it cannot be used in serious contexts; indeed it is the only commonly-used word to express the precise concept. In the original conception, this technology could be used for "remote" sex (or, at least, remote mutual masturbation), where the physical sensations of touch could be transmitted over a data link between the participants.

Visualisations of this hypothetical technology invariably involved an image of an attractive woman engulfed in a rubber suit equipped with sensors and built-in teleoperated dildos, possibly suggesting that the inspiration derived more from rubber fetishism and medical fetishism than from a desire to meet widespread demand.

Recent technological innovations such as the 'cyber glove' which projects the wearers hand into virtual space, and innovations in haptic technology such as the glove produced by the University of Buffalo which enable wearers to experience tactile stimuli corresponding to this virtual space, suggest that this fantasy may prove not to be so fantastical. There are as yet no verifiable reports of haptic technology being used for sex, however sex toys that can be manipulated remotely by another party are currently coming onto the market. These devices sometimes come with prerecorded movies to which the device's actions are synchronized by means of a separately written script.

See also

• Haptics
• Sleeper
• Orgasmatron

External links

• OPENDILDONICS: "CyberD for a GNU generation" - A group attempting to provide open-source software and hardware for dildonic devices
• Lost in Cyberspace: Cyberdildonics
• Wired News: Reaching Through the Net to Touch
• Midflux: CyberGlove®
• Will Remote Teledildonics be Saved by Open Source?
• Page describing technical implementation of dildonic devices from digitalintimacy.com (now defunct)

Vendors of non-haptic teledildonics

(explicit, adult links)

• The Virtual Sex Machine