Abstract
Recent years have witnessed an increase in the number of academic studies on the impact of technological advancements on human life, including possible transformations and changes in human sexuality following the development of sex-related devices, such as sex robots. In this context, terms such as posthuman sexuality, digisexuality, and techno-sexuality have emerged, signaling possible new understandings of sexual, intimacy, and emotional practices. It is important to note that ancient history shows that humankind has for a long time been fascinated with their relationship to non-living things, mostly human-like figures, such as dolls. The Ningyo (人形, the Japanese term for doll) has a long history of usage, and has deep religious and animistic significance in the Japanese context—there are records of sexual use as early as the 18th century. With this context in mind, this paper focuses on three Japanese examples, aiming to shine a light on beyond-human relationships, which include a Japanese man’s marriage to a digital character, sex dolls, and communicative robots, from both a sexual and emotional perspective. In a new horizon of sexual and romantic possibilities, how will humans respond, and what can emerge from these interactions?
Highlights
Technological developments have been strong forces to help transform social relationships and human behavior, including sexual practices
Descriptive statistics were used for quantitative data, while thematic analysis was used for qualitative data, obtained through openended questions, categorizing the questions and answers in themes—such as personal information, lifestyle, human relationships, leisure activities, emotions and information on their own dolls or robots, and sexual practices in the case of love doll owners
Concerning the emowith dolls, he had the possibility inside of a delusion. He states since tionalthe connection, we have asked howof theliving owners felt about their Robohons andthat what the he began to live with his first love doll, he felt healed and was able to enjoy his life again
Summary
Technological developments have been strong forces to help transform social relationships and human behavior, including sexual practices. IT and AI have helped global societies to deal with, and adjust to, lockdown as a social device, while global communities have been fighting the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020. Among the more unexpected technologies to contribute to this adjustment were sex-tech devices—sex dolls and sex robots—which helped people maintain sexual wellness during the pandemic. During this period, there was an increase in their use and sales in many countries (Lee. 2020; Owsianik 2020). Matt McMullen, CEO of Abyss Creation—one of the leading companies in the US and worldwide market—affirms that their sex doll and sex robot sales increased about 75%, compared to the pre-lockdown period.
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