Sex & Relationships

Oculus ushers in a Golden Age of masturbation

Your fantasy life is about to get much richer, thanks to the wonders of virtual reality.

The Oculus Rift virtual reality equipment began shipping Monday for those who preordered or contributed to the original Kickstarter campaign. Oculus, which is owned by Facebook, has called today “a historic moment” in a release, adding, “soon, people all over the world will be experiencing fully immersive VR in their own homes.”

By which they mean porn, of course.

Sure, there are plenty of VR experiences that will allow users to step into fantastic worlds, jump out of planes or mimic daring stunts, all from the safety of their home. But where goes technological advancement, there also goes pornographic advancement. Plenty of third-party extensions allowing Oculus users to get a virtual lap dance or do the nasty with a digital partner have already been made available, and some intricate systems even incorporate gripping robots and Fleshlight-esque devices to take the experience one step further.

Though Oculus didn’t respond to a request for comment for this article, founder Palmer Luckey has emphasized that there will be an “open platform” for third-party developers, porn studios included.

Todd Gilder, CEO of VR porn studio BaDoink, joked to The Post that “Luckey ought to give us a referral fee for every sale of the Rift.”

Indeed, self-fulfillment is certainly one thing you could use the $599 Oculus headset for. But is the experience worth it?

Terry Klee, a licensed psychotherapist and relationship specialist affiliated with Columbia University, told The Post that the new horizons virtual reality offers could make masturbation enthusiasts’ experience that much better.

“I think it’s going to depend on each person’s level of sexuality,” she said. “For some I think it might actually enhance it. I think it depends on how comfortable people are masturbating to begin with.”

According to a 2015 study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, millennials tend to have fewer sexual partners than the generations preceding them. This could be owing to the twin factors of awareness of the dangers of unprotected sex and the easy availability of emotional intimacy via the Internet and dating apps. If you’re already being fulfilled emotionally, virtual reality porn is bound to be a big step up in the sexuality department.

“The definition of masturbation is self-pleasure, so whether you have a can or a vibrator or whatever, you’re by yourself. I think it’ll amp it up because much of masturbation is very similar to the pleasure principle of addictions, which is that you get accustomed to a certain level and you want even a higher sensation than you had previously,” Klee said. “The only reason that doesn’t really happen with our partners is emotions are included and shyness and inhibitions, but that all goes away when you’re by yourself, so people’s experimentation tends to increase.”

In addition to the physical safety of virtual porn, it could also allow people to experiment with kinks they may be too nervous or ashamed to try, or even experience sex from the point of view of another gender.

“You can’t go out and experiment with sex safely anymore,” Klee said. “With this, you could do that. It also removes the shame, there’s a lot of shame around masturbation.”

On the other hand, if you would be upset by your partner masturbating to porn, you’re likely to be unhappy with the new hyper-realistic advances in porn that the arrival of Oculus offers.

“For most couples, it could feel threatening because it’s going to disrupt the equilibrium that’s already established,” Klee said. Many people feel uncomfortable with how they’d stack up to the super-sexy behavior and perfect physiques that porn can offer, so a more immersive experience could be even more intimidating.

However you feel about porn, prepare to turn those feelings up to 11 when it comes to a virtual reality version.

“If you had a vibrator in your bedroom drawer, having this in your bedroom drawer is going to be that much better,” Klee said.

“It’s like the Wild West,” she said. “It’s very interesting.”