Touching robots in sexual areas such as the buttocks or genital region can provoke a feeling of arousal among humans, according to a study by California researchers.
The study used a test that encouraged volunteers to touch and grope a two-foot tall plastic robot. “Sometimes I’ll ask you to touch my body and sometimes I’ll ask you to point to my body,” the robot told volunteers in an effort to increase arousal.
Out of 26 research trials which included four female and six male volunteers, it was discovered that the test subjects became more aroused when touching slightly more taboo areas of the robot, a reaction not mirrored when these volunteers touched places such as the robot’s hands or feet.
“Our work shows that robots are a new form of media that is particularly powerful. It shows that people respond to robots in a primitive, social way,” said head of the study and mechanical engineer Jamy Li. “Social conventions regarding touching someone else’s private parts apply to a robot’s body parts as well. The research has implications for both robot design and the theory of artificial systems.”
“In future, robots with human forms may assist us in personal and public spaces,” claim the researchers. “What kinds of relationships will people develop with these robots? While they are clearly not human, social conventions such as body accessibility may apply to robots as well.”
The bridge of sexuality between humans and robots has become increasingly narrow over the past few years. Experts believe that sexual relationships with robots will be socially normal within 50 years, and with a host of both partial and fully robotic sex toys, accessories, and aids already on the market, it could only be a matter of time before humanity’s robosexual desires become a popular reality.
“Ladies, if you think guys are selfish, egotistical pricks now, just wait until they start showing up to dates basked in the afterglow of sex with their Jessica Alba robots. It is going to take a lot more to win over a guy who is that sexually satisfied,” wrote popular blog Chateau Heartiste, and they may have a point.
The California study shows that humans possess a certain amount sexual arousal for robots who have only the most basic human characteristics, so when the gap of distinction between androids and humans closes, it may be only natural that these relationships will start to expand.
Charlie Nash is a frequent contributor to Breitbart Tech and former editor of the Squid Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington.
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