NAKED TRUTH
VR porn bosses urge Facebook, Sony and Samsung to get involved – or risk missing out on virtual XXX clip boom
MAKERS of virtual reality headsets are being urged to sell virtual reality porn – or risk missing out on a booming business.
A porn industry titan has urged top VR firms like Facebook, Samsung and Sony to ditch their prudish rules and embrace a sex-tech revolution.
4
Virtual reality involves users donning a headset powered by a computer, which generates fake images.
The tech can simulate a virtual world around you, making it seem real – so its adoption by porn producers was inevitable.
Sales of VR porn are booming, but the industry warns that it's being held back by overly cautious tech giants.
"A lot of these big companies are fearful of getting associated with porn," said Ian Paul, an exec at porn firm Naughty America, speaking to the .
4
"I think there's concern about minors accessing the content, but we've had pay-for-view on cable systems for years, so it's not like that problem can't be solved technologically.
"There's a way you can do verification to avoid that. So I think a lot of it is political."
The VR porn industry is big business, and Naughty America is at the forefront of its meteoric rise.
Naughty America has produced hundreds of virtual reality adult movies in the past two years, and the reception has been very positive.
In December 2016 alone, the site's customers downloaded more than 20million VR videos.
"Our customers have embraced VR," Naughty America's Andreas Hronopoulos told the WSJ.
"It’s just so intimate, there’s just nothing else like it."
4
4
What's got VR porn companies excited isn't necessarily the technology, but the profits.
Around one in every 167 visitors to Naughty America's VR preview page ended up becoming a paying subscriber.
That might not sound like much, but it's a big deal when the world has grown used to XXX videos being freely available online.
Virtual Reality – the facts
What does it mean, and how big is the industry?
- Virtual reality is simply using a headset or goggles to simulate a fake world
- You stick the VR helmet on and you'll see a virtual environment in front of you, created by computers
- VR helmets are made by top firms like Facebook, Google, Sony, HTC and Samsung
- You can get cardboard VR headsets for as cheap as £5 in the UK
- But top VR headsets (with the best graphics) cost hundreds of pounds – and require expensive gaming PCs, too
- VR is big business – Facebook bought VR firm Oculus in 2014 for $2billion
- And analysts say the VR industry will be worth more than $40billion by 2020
- Popular VR pastimes include watching 360-degree videos and playing virtual reality games
- But there's also a growing number of porn enthusiasts who use VR headsets to watch smut
Naughty America website subscriptions grew by 55% in 2016, which coincidentally was its first full year of offering VR content.
Customers pay $25 for a month's membership, or $74 for a full year of access.
In the 18 months after its first VR video went live, Naughty America's revenue grew by 40%.
And for 2016, revenue driven by VR was up by 433%.
Virtual reality sex world lets users romp with 3D porn stars
With huge profit potential, companies like Naughty America are scrambling to get involved.
The problem for porn giants is that there's a reluctance to showcase VR porn from the people who hold the reins over virtual reality gear.
The majority of VR content gets sold by the people who make the VR products, and those companies are household names.
Right now, there's no way to buy pornographic content through Facebook's Oculus Rift store, the HTC Vive store, Samsung's Gear VR store, or Sony's PlayStation VR store.
It's possible to find dodgy workarounds to get porn onto these headsets, but it can result in lower quality content.
MOST READ IN TECH
That's why headset makers now run the risk of repeating the death of Betamax.
Betamax famously died out as a video storage medium because Sony wouldn't let porn companies license its tech.
Unsurprisingly, VHS quickly grew to become the dominant tape system – and the rest is history.
"If you look at the history of technology, any time anyone's ever bet against porn, they've lost," Ian Paul warned.
"Of course we want adoption to happen faster just because it's our business.
"But it'll happen, it's just a matter of when."
- Read our exclusive story on how Sony's PlayStation VR "will die" without virtual reality porn
Do you think virtual reality is here to stay, or is it just a passing fad? Let us know in the comments!
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368 . We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.
Topics