How do you watch porn? Because it may change. Ela Darling, who co-founded a virtual reality porn company, spoke to Cosmopolitan about her company and it's totally worth a read. Firstly because virtual reality porn!? Porn of the future?! I mean... people have sex with a hologram of her. You can have sex with a hologram. Did everyone else know that this is a thing? I thought holograms were only on the really expensive POGs. I feel like the streets are full of people jet packing and I just never noticed. You can buy different hologram packages for a completely different experience than regular porn. Just the idea of it is blowing my mind.
Secondly, her career history is fascinating. She's a librarian, with a master's in library information science. She start doing modeling during her undergrad, which eventually lead to more hardcore modeling, lesbian porn, and then straight porn. She says "I've been into tech for a long time. I love emerging technologies." which is probably what lead to her co-founding VRtube.xxx, the virtual reality porn company. What a life— and she's only 29. She celebrates her sexuality and her pansexuality, as well discussing how porn is way of taking control of her sexuality. She saw what was already happening and wanted to put herself in the driver seat, as she explained:
"Men are going to sexualize me whether I consent to it or not. The things they'd say to me, the way men would talk to me just as a librarian — I was the "hot librarian." So now I'm literally making them pay for it. They're actually opening their wallets for this thing that they've kind of been taking bits away and now I'm taking it back, taking back that power."
Fascinating, right? And here are five things to know about hologram porn, because we'll all probably be watching it some day:
1. It Happened Because Of Reddit
For reals. Basically she says "I saw some posts on Reddit about wanting to make VR porn and I said, "Sign me up. Fly me out,". She met the two guys, filmed the first video, and eventually she and one of the men set up the company.
2. The First Shot Was Just Guesswork
She thought she'd be coached through it, but that wasn't really the case. It had to be filmed in 180 degrees so no one else could bet there. But it went well: "I treated it like a webcam show where I was talking to the camera and being as genuine as I can be. They loved it. He said it was the first time he ever watched porn and felt like he was connecting with another person."
3. It's Aimed At People That Have An "Oculus Rift"
I had never heard of it either. But thanks to the internet I have found that it is what looks like fancy goggles. I guess it's a virtual reality mask? Machine? Glasses? The jargon escapes me, but it's basically how you get into the matrix. And having one helps you watch hologram porn.
4. Pricing Is Tricky
As Darling points out, being limited to people who own an Oculus Rift also means "That's mostly young men generally who are fairly affluent or who are into tech or developers. But they're also people who are not accustomed to paying for porn. " Fair enough— who pays for porn? So they've had to price low— around 5 dollars for each package— but they seem to be selling well.
5. It's The Full Experience... Dates Included
So the whole thing has a real "choose your own adventure" feel. And it's not just about the sex. You can do a girlfriend experience. Darling explains: "It's video-game style where I talk to you and we're in a cafe and there are four options and you can decide how to interact with me. It's a little silly and fun. If you're too forward or too fast, you're out of there. You blew it. If you stare at my tits, I'll clear my throat and say, 'Eyes up here.'"
