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Large Image Display:Chrysalis: Virtual Sexual Stimulation: Part 2
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BackgroundChrysalis is a very dark French film. It aired in 2007, and has two versions. One, in French, conveys the original intent of this cyberpunk-themed film noire movie. The other, in English, hams it up ridiculously.We would always recommend procuring the French version of this film - with subtitles - to take in the original intent, and to avoid the urge to switch the TV off. The film itself is at times mediocre, at times brilliant. However, it is as a rich breeding ground to visual examples of potential uses of VR and related technologies that the film truly shines. In each case, it cannot help but pause and contemplate the social and legal effects of such. This StillIn this frame from the film, taken just a handful of seconds after the one from Part 1, our protagonist Interpol investigators have found the informant they were looking for. He was engaged in energetic activities inside a full immersion pod.As we discussed in part one, from the setting presented; the devices scattered around the barren rooms, and the way they connect via wiring to the base of the user's spines, combined with the blissed out expressions and postures of the users, we are able to draw the conclusion that this is something of a sensory pornography club or other establishment. Rather than watching erotic imagery, the patrons - or well, drug users is an apt term even if there are no drugs involved - plug themselves into the machines, which directly stimulate the nerves leading from the spine to their sex organs, inducing orgasmic pleasure, and all the sensory feelings of sex, without the tiredness or soreness, or pain. However, this pod interface now that we see inside it, is a bit different. It is hard to miss the conglomeration of interface cables almost covering the user's genitalia inside the pod, making it crystal clear that the same type of interface is going on. However, there are a few differences. Firstly, that slightly grey concave surface inside the pod looks suspiciously like a hemispherical display system as most real-world VR pods use. A moving graphical image directly related to the sensations experienced, is played out upon that surface, immersing the user's visual and auditory senses into the experience. With these added senses mixed in, a much richer experience is possible than just the sensations alone. It is basically a sexual VR, in which a fantasy doesn't have to be imagined to go with the sensations. Instead it can be felt all around the user. Also note the area under the couch the user is on, and fore that matter the couch itself. Looking not too dissimilar to an old Flogistron couch, this may well be part of the interface as well as the display screen, speakers and direct sensory feedback. Its purpose would be to roll and tilt, or vibrate to add additional whole-body sensory feedback into the mix. Finally, as we discussed in part one, the real danger with direct neural-feedback sex sensations is that if the user is given control of the device providing an automated stimulation, there is a very real danger that they will press the controls for pleasure, more pleasure, more and more pleasure, until their body literally dies out underneath them, purely from neglect. A pod such as this one, postphones that eventuality, basically by having the couch there, and room underneath it, within the pod to house medical monitoring equipment, nutritional drips and waste extraction capability. The pod shown here has none of these, but it clearly has the design to accommodate such. This is understandable, as such systems are an essential staple of long-term engagement in virtual spaces. However, the interface type that is most geared up for long-stays in a VR, is perhaps paradoxically, the least likely to actually deliver the need to stay indefinitely. The why is simple. Unlike the other devices shown such a pod , if the parallels to the real world equivalents hold, is designed to deliver maximum sensory feedback across the entire gamut of senses. If it just gave out an endless stream of pure orgasmic bliss, none of this would be necessary. Instead the entire interface in this enrvironment, practically screams out that it is a higher class of interface, designed to set up an entire fantasy encounter with a person that is normally completely unobtainable. A celebrity or other well known figure would be the most likely fodder for such a device. It then allows the simulation of an erotic encounter with that person, complete with build-up, foreplay, climax and afterglow. It is realistically the only possible explanation for the sheer sophistication compared to the other sex interfaces in the environment. In short, the more sophisticated and all-encompassing the experience, the less likely it is to rely on endless pleasure to give the user a good time. Instead, a discrete encounter, which is far less likely to get the individual hooked such that they simply cannot stop. LinksMain Article on Chrysalis Dictionary: Teledildonics Dictionary: Teleamore Teledildonics (An Introduction)
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