VR porn can improve sperm quality short-term, says new study
The quality of men's sperm has been declining for decades. According to a new study, VR porn could counteract the negative trend.
Global warming, air pollution, smoking and poor nutrition. These are the most likely reasons why sperm quality in men has been declining for years, researchers say. One measure of sperm quality is the number of sperm per ejaculation, which has declined significantly worldwide since the 1970s, Israeli scientists write.
This is a serious problem, they say, because sperm quality is an important indicator of male health.
Using VR porn to combat sperm shortage
A study by Danish sperm bank Cryos International Sperm and Egg Bank, the University of Sheffield and Queen's University looks at the effect of virtual reality, or more specifically VR porn, on sperm production. It is the first study of its kind and now the initial results are available.
Previous research already showed that consuming porn in 2D during masturbation can increase sperm quality. In the new study, 63 sperm donors in Denmark were allowed to consume erotic content in VR since mid-2021 and made a total of 504 donations. One group of subjects was given VR headsets for the test, while the comparison group watched on ordinary monitors.
The results were surprising: within the test scenario, the study showed the benefits of VR when masturbating. On average, the sperm count of the test subjects increased by up to 50 percent. But time also plays a role: the aforementioned effect was achieved with short intervals of a maximum of 14 hours between sperm donations.
However, the longer the interval between donations, the more the results converged. 58 hours after administration of the first sample, there was no longer any difference in quality. Interestingly, quality then again predominated in the subjects who consumed porn in 2D when the interval was extended even further.
Virtual reality as a medical aid?
VR is already helping in the fight against dementia and is being used successfully in complicated operations. The fact that VR could positively influence the reproductive capacity of humans, on the other hand, is new.
Scientists are still puzzling over the causes of the effect: virtual reality could lead to sperm donors experiencing stronger erotic stimulation and possibly masturbating longer. This would then lead to higher sperm counts per ejaculation. The quality of the erotic material could also play a role.
The scientists want to test the result further and investigate whether the positive effect continues to hold in larger test groups.
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