Future of Sex: How Close Are Robotic Love Dolls?
Matt McMullen
As a high-end sex doll designer   Abyss founder Matt McMullen  has been trying to figure out what will please  his  customers for years. Realism  and how close to come to it  is never far from  his  mind. Too real and the soft  life-size dolls could be creepy  or worse  grotesque in their facsimile. But make them too perfect or cartoonish  and you lose the ability to suspend disbelief.
Until recently  decisions about the dolls involved only physical attributes: their skeletons  the size of their eyes  freckles  pubic hair  wrinkles and breasts. Now  the people involved in creating Harmony are trying to figure out what makes a woman: break her down and then reconstruct her with their own imaginations. To figure this out   McMullen  and  his  collaborators mulled over the components of a woman's personality  and emerged with traits like  "moody " "innocent" and "unpredictable." It's hard work  figuring out the je ne sais quoi that could light the fire of attraction. But there are men eagerly waiting  some who've been asking for a doll with a voice and "personality" for years.
Of course  a doll that looks and feels like a woman is one thing. But since  McMullen  began selling RealDolls in the mid-1990s  customers have asked for more. They want movement  conversation  personality. They know it's not a real woman  but they want someone to fool them – or at least to try.
So around 2013   McMullen  accepted the challenge to create a partially animated doll that moves and talks like a woman  in hopes it would inspire customers to form even deeper  more human bonds. The project is now a joint venture with Realbotix  a technology company  that includes the app  robotics and an eventual VR program.
"Human relationships have changed drastically over the last 10 to 20 years "  McMullen  says. "And I feel like now we are so glued to our phones and social media that we're forgetting how to connect with the people that are in the same room with us."  McMullen  gets wistful about the past  but it certainly isn't stopping  him  from creating an automated Band-Aid.
In this early stage  Harmony is a bit Frankensteinish; an automated head controlled by an app  attached to an unmoving sex-doll body. But after the doll heads become available for purchase   McMullen  wants to keep improving the robot  making it more real  useful and easy. Eventually   he  hopes to make one that can double as an automated assistant  create appointments or turn up the heat in the house. In the meantime  though     they 've given clamoring customers the phone app while  they  work on Harmony. There is still some work to do.
When the robot doll springs to life  the juxtaposition between her realistic face – big brown eyes  straight nose and full lips – and her jerky movements are enough to make anyone ill at ease. Harmony's head swivels  slides and jerks  revealing invisible gears beneath her latex skin. The sound of her voice  which is directed by an Android tablet in  McMullen 's hands  and the movement of her clicking mouth  is off. It's lip-sync delay that occurs when robot connects to the app. "We're working on that "  McMullen  says.
"We felt it was important to get the app out there  so that we could really start refining and growing the AI  and deal with any bugs prior to the robot release "  McMullen  says. It also allowed Realbotix to get feedback from customers – a lot of it.
"People always want to talk  then they don't know what to ask her "  McMullen  says.
As [TGT]has been trying to figure out what will please  [TGT]  customers for years. Realism  and how close to come to it  is never far from  his  mind. Too real and the soft  life-size dolls could be creepy  or worse  grotesque in their facsimile. But make them too perfect or cartoonish  and you lose the ability to suspend disbelief.
Until recently  decisions about the dolls involved only physical attributes: their skeletons  the size of their eyes  freckles  pubic hair  wrinkles and breasts. Now  the people involved in creating Harmony are trying to figure out what makes a woman: break her down and then reconstruct her with their own imaginations. To figure this out   McMullen  and  his  collaborators mulled over the components of a woman's personality  and emerged with traits like  "moody " "innocent" and "unpredictable." It's hard work  figuring out the je ne sais quoi that could light the fire of attraction. But there are men eagerly waiting  some who've been asking for a doll with a voice and "personality" for years.
Of course  a doll that looks and feels like a woman is one thing. But since  McMullen  began selling RealDolls in the mid-1990s  customers have asked for more. They want movement  conversation  personality. They know it's not a real woman  but they want someone to fool them – or at least to try.
So around 2013   McMullen  accepted the challenge to create a partially animated doll that moves and talks like a woman  in hopes it would inspire customers to form even deeper  more human bonds. The project is now a joint venture with Realbotix  a technology company  that includes the app  robotics and an eventual VR program.
"Human relationships have changed drastically over the last 10 to 20 years "  McMullen  says. "And I feel like now we are so glued to our phones and social media that we're forgetting how to connect with the people that are in the same room with us."  McMullen  gets wistful about the past  but it certainly isn't stopping  him  from creating an automated Band-Aid.
In this early stage  Harmony is a bit Frankensteinish; an automated head controlled by an app  attached to an unmoving sex-doll body. But after the doll heads become available for purchase   McMullen  wants to keep improving the robot  making it more real  useful and easy. Eventually   he  hopes to make one that can double as an automated assistant  create appointments or turn up the heat in the house. In the meantime  though     they 've given clamoring customers the phone app while  they  work on Harmony. There is still some work to do.
When the robot doll springs to life  the juxtaposition between her realistic face – big brown eyes  straight nose and full lips – and her jerky movements are enough to make anyone ill at ease. Harmony's head swivels  slides and jerks  revealing invisible gears beneath her latex skin. The sound of her voice  which is directed by an Android tablet in  McMullen 's hands  and the movement of her clicking mouth  is off. It's lip-sync delay that occurs when robot connects to the app. "We're working on that "  McMullen  says.
"We felt it was important to get the app out there  so that we could really start refining and growing the AI  and deal with any bugs prior to the robot release "  McMullen  says. It also allowed Realbotix to get feedback from customers – a lot of it.
"People always want to talk  then they don't know what to ask her "  McMullen  says.