Mixed reality headsets: Game changer for AR porn?
Mixed reality headsets like Meta Quest Pro could help AR pornography succeed. The US studio Naughty America is trying it out.
The company operates porn websites and likes to experiment with new technologies on the side.
Since 2015, Naughty America has been releasing new VR porn on a weekly basis. It's a business that is apparently paying off.
It's an open secret in the VR porn industry that its clientele are willing to spend more money on VR sex movies than on porn flicks in more traditional formats. "It’s become the premium adult entertainment experience," CEO Andreas Hronopoulos tells Fast Company, adding, "There is real money in this."
Smartphone AR flopped
Naughty America also dabbled in augmented reality. In 2018, the company released an AR app for smartphones that lets users project adult models into their living rooms.
The app flopped for the same reasons as many AR apps for smartphones. The small screen does not allow for immersion and forces users to walk around the room with the smartphone in their hands.
When Hronopoulos tried the same content with the Meta Quest Pro mixed reality headset, the experience was completely different. Suddenly, it gave users the impression that the scantily clad men and women were really standing in their own living rooms.
Naughty America tests AR porn in the marketplace
Naughty America currently operates two websites with pornographic AR content, one with real people and the other with computer-generated avatars. Both techniques have their advantages and disadvantages.
The filmed actors look more lifelike, of course, but the recording process is very expensive. Naughty America built a studio specifically for volumetric shooting to produce AR holograms from video content. The animated content doesn't look as realistic, but it's more explicit and easier to produce.
Currently, Hronopoulos is evaluating interest in both platforms. Which path the company will take has not been decided. "There is definitely a market for both," the CEO says.
Mixed reality headsets going mainstream - and with them AR porn?
Meta Quest Pro, released last October, shows the real environment in color instead of grainy black and white like Meta Quest 2. There is currently speculation that the Meta Quest 3, which will be released this year and is much cheaper, will also have a color view.
This could make AR pornography much more interesting than before. And it could become more interactive than previous porn formats, for example, by the computer-generated porn stars reacting to the users.
Read the full article at Fast Company.
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