(Note: This story appears in the February issue of SE Magazine)
Satisfyer has long been at the forefront of app-based pleasure and its Satisfyer Connect app offers a glimpse of a future blending tech and pleasure like never before.
A recent article in The New Yorker talked about the near-limitless potential of 5G—the next era of connectivity, or the Internet of Things (where seemingly mundane items—think a lamp, a pair of sneakers, your microwave, etc.—are all connected).
The same New Yorker article cited an estimated 12 trillion dollars 5G could pump into the economy by 2035.
So, yeah, 5G is a big deal.
And if 5G does come to represent tech’s zenith, expect the adult market to not just take notice, but contribute and maximize that frontier.
For a while, Satisfyer has been leading the charge on wireless sexy time, developing products for men, women and couples.
“We’ve been a leader in innovating the (wireless) category, so a new app technology was a natural next step in adding value to our product line without shifting our price points,” says Megwyn White, Satisfyer’s Director of Education about the company’s Connect app.
White says Satisfyer began developing the app in 2018 where their focus was devising an app that blended tech, sexual wellness and lifestyle.
“Users can direct their experience with more precision, play, and bridge the boundaries of a safe and easy to navigate landscape space to stay connected while unlocking sexual potential,” adds White.
The technology is straightforward with haptic touch controls that allow users to navigate the many features within the app with the touch of a finger. The controls allow users to fine-tune their experience with precision. The most basic, but essential, tool within the Satisfyer Connect app is the opportunity to use your phone as a remote control.
Users can easily create programs to their liking, and also expand options by creating longer sequences to enjoy their products while being completely hands-free. Other features include sensorial enhancements like their ambient sound feature which transforms the sounds within the room into unique vibrational patterns bridging the peripheral space to the device in hand.
“We’ve also added a music vibes feature which enables users with the opportunity to turn their favorite songs or erotic audio into scintillating vibrations,” says White. “One of the main highlights within our app is the option to explore remote play with partners at a distance. This special feature couples video streaming technology and teledildonics to allow users to control their lover’s product while seeing their lover’s face, listening to their voice, and engaging in moment-to-moment intimate virtual contact.”
It’s not that app-based sexual products didn’t exist before Satisfyer entered the fray. On the contrary, that market was already robust, if not underwhelming.
“We saw a huge gap in the market in which most Bluetooth-enabled products were desired, yet out of reach due to steep pricing,” says White. “We have been able to expand the technology while maintaining price points that invite more users to enjoy our products as essential lifestyle tools in ways they have never experienced before.”
Satisfyer is hoping this newly discovered treasure trove of possibilities will lure new customers and retain brand loyalists.
“This will, of course, enhance the opportunity to reach a larger market that is looking specifically for products that can enhance their relationships, inspire new discoveries, and can easily adapt to their busy lifestyle,” says White.
Essential connectivity
In a time when many people the world over have been impacted, directly or indirectly, by COVID, “social distancing” and “quarantining” became common parlance in 2020.
And, when we look back on this period in time, we’ll probably pinpoint the inflection of teledildonics. “App-based toys have definitely been on the rise during the pandemic and seen more and more as essential in overcoming the added stress that comes with feeling more isolated and disconnected,” observes White. “We’re lucky to have been able to facilitate an opportunity to connect users with these innovative products at a time when they most needed them most. For many, they are now considered essential tools to help stay connected to their bodies and to their intimate partners while offering a boost in confidence and morale.”
Heck, “Zooty calls” didn’t exist prior to COVID (and yes, Zooty is a fusion of “Zoom” and “booty”).
White points out how remote play is an incredibly popular feature within the Satisfyer Connect app, offering “virtual touch” and real-time feedback with simply a Wi-Fi connection.
“COVID has fundamentally changed how people view virtual tools of connection,” she says. “With less and less physical interaction, people have adopted platforms like Zoom and Skype to regularly connect with family and friends. The challenges of our times have expanded the minds of people to reach beyond the screen and adopt these new technologies as valuable tools of connection.”
COVID has fundamentally changed how people view virtual tools of connection. With less and less physical interaction, people have adopted platforms like Zoom and Skype to regularly connect with family and friends. The challenges of our times have expanded the minds of people to reach beyond the screen and adopt these new technologies as valuable tools of connection.” — Megwyn White
The Satisfyer Connect app takes this one step further by helping to facilitate a direct feedback loop of pleasure by enabling partners to mediate controls of their favorite products through haptic touch. White explains how inevitable it was that users would begin to be inspired by this new form of connection, but that COVID has accelerated that adoption.
People are craving touch and intimacy more than ever before and the Satisfyer Connect app promises to bridge those distance gaps.
Features like ambient sounds, music vibes and motion detection help unlock a creative spirit that helps to motivate and enhance desire by “unlocking play and peripheral awareness of space and imagination.”
“These fine-tuned controls help to elevate the subtleties and awareness of touch like never before by adding the benefit of boosting sensory introspection and sensual communication between partners,” White continues. “This helps in boosting confidence while also engaging curiosity to peel through the layers that often block intimacy.”
Exponential value
Part of the appeal in wireless toys and sex apps lies in their ability to augment value to their ancestral relics.
“Fundamentally, they invite users to see these products outside of the context of novelties and more so as an essential lifestyle accessory that helps them stay connected to themselves and their partners.
“This shift will undoubtedly set-in motion a continued surge of innovation that expands beyond the product itself, but also to the creative potential within each and every user. The opportunity presented within this new innovative landscape is to become co-creative with consumers in best meeting their needs,” White says.
New analytical feedback could also be mined (with consent!) to improve toys and the end-consumer experience as well as further de-stigmatize pleasure.
In addition to the expansive repertoire wireless connectivity dangles in front of the imagination, wireless capabilities can grant toys a second lease on life.
“The brain is in fact the most powerful sex organ,” says White, “and with app-enabled products, we can harness its power. Users can explore sensorial mediums typically outside the boundaries and limits of play. Whether its experimenting with wearable product in a public space or curating a virtual erotic journey at home, users now have the opportunity to extend the life of their products because of the increase in implicit value they provide in cultivating both body and mind.”
Ultimately, any kind of mass adaptation to tech that so heavily involves intimacy will take time (even if a once-in-a-generation pandemic nudges it along).
Satisfyer is cognizant of that and reacting accordingly, even if it seems all signs are pointing to the future.
“We want to encourage our users to explore their devices in whatever way makes sense to them,” White says. “We do feel that as adoption grows and we begin to introduce new product wearable devices that more people who were once on the fence of engaging with app technology may begin to experiment and tinker with how they can explore their products.”
For more information, visit satisfyer.com.
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