What you learn about human desire when you get intimate with a piece of talking silicone
Above: Henry, Realbotix's first male sex robot.
Or at least, this is the general idea. The easy fantasy of what a sex robot might be — indistinguishable from an actual human, except hotter and prepared to fulfill any desire — is far from the current reality. Henry, if we’re being cruel, is essentially a high-quality dildo attached to a fancy mannequin with a Bluetooth speaker in his head. But the gulf between what we imagine and what’s possible makes sex robots the perfect vehicle for pondering our sexual and technological future.
In his 2007 book Love and Sex With Robots, David Levy predicted that by 2050, humans will have intimate relationships with robots. Not just sex — love, friendship, marriage, all of it. A futurologist named Ian Pearson has gone even further and suggested that by 2050, humans will have more sex with robots than with other people.
Other companies are making sex robots, like Roxxxy from TrueCompanion and the brutalized Samantha from Synthea Amatus, but their offerings are less sophisticated. Mostly, they moan and give preprogrammed X-rated commands when touched, like turned-on Tickle Me Elmos. Hanson Robotics has created an impressive female robot named Sophia: She’s got movable arms, she can tell jokes, she’s even a citizen of Saudi Arabia — but she’s not designed for sex or even companionship.
Next to a bushel of labias, which resemble dark-pink wood-ear mushrooms, sits a bundle of penises waiting to have veins airbrushed. These, Catherine says proudly, are the popular Real Cock 2s, nine inches from the base to the tip. Even in the finished body, genitals are removable; they’re easier to clean that way.
Eventually, Realbotix plans to give the Real Doll X a heating system, so that the genitals warm up, as well as self-lubrication devices and more touch sensors to help mimic arousal. Further down the line, it wants to develop torsos that move and hips that thrust. The issue is cost and increased weight: The Real Doll bodies are already between 65 and 125 pounds, and adding a mechanical frame would make them harder to move around.
Henry and Harmony live in a small office that constitutes the Realbotix AI lab. Today, Harmony’s still dressed for her Kimmel appearance, in a sheer white robe with glittery stars. Her long blonde hair is straight, her eyes are blue, and her nails are painted in a careful French manicure. Her breasts are 32DD. She’s propped in her doll stand at the front of the room. She looks alert — her eyes wide open, her lips slightly parted — but patient and calm. She’s waiting for someone to turn her on.
McMullen is a 49-year-old white man with wide-set eyes, slicked-back hair, and the speech pattern of someone who spent his childhood surfing and now crushes Monster Energy drinks. He founded Abyss in 1997 and launched Realbotix in 2016.
Behind him, Harmony gives a sexy moan. Once, then twice. Her face spasms. I’m not sure if that’s a bug or a feature. I’ve lived alone for some time, and been varying degrees of single, so I’ve spent almost half a decade finding ways to dispel loneliness. Most of them involve my phone. I can pick up my phone and text 42 people and get responses and feel briefly less alone. I can pick up my phone and swipe around on Tinder and have exchanges not so different from the chat I had with Harmony.
Henry’s app will run similarly to Harmony’s, but it’s not yet been fine-tuned for gender. Even though Henry is a potential companion for both women and men — the app will eventually have an option to select sexual orientation — McMullen prefers to think of him as the idealized version of what a woman wants. He’ll ask more questions, tell more jokes, give more advice.
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