Is VR Here To Stay?

Image Credit: BadoinkVR

It’s often said that prostitution is the oldest profession. While I agree with this statement, I think it’s a little incomplete. If I had it my way I’d also add as a subtitle: “and pornography is the oldest form of entertainment.” Since the birth of the entertainment industry, the driving force behind progress has always been pornography in some form. It’s the reason we went from paintings to photos. Then later the reason we went from photos to video. We like to see other people naked. More than that, we like to see other people fuck. We like to watch them and imagine that it’s us. Hell, we even like to watch them and imagine that it’s not us. It’s this universal lust that has been pushing the entertainment business for centuries and virtual reality is just the latest installment. The question is, “is it here to stay?” Let’s see if history holds a clue to the answer.

The Birth of Porn

Image Credit: Screenshot of “Le Coucher de la Mariée”

Porn has been around since cavemen have been scratching on walls but the modern era didn’t really begin until the late 1800’s. In 1896, a film called Le Coucher de la Mariée showed a woman performing a striptease. A clip can be seen here: Le coucher de la marieé – 1896 – Pirou y Léar This film is usually considered to be the first porno ever made. The film was a mere seven minutes in length but it lasted long enough to capture the imagination of an entire generation. There was such a high demand for the French film that it didn’t take long for movie producers to realize that there was money to be made. They quickly started churning out content to satisfy the insatiable appetite of the public and the genre of pornography was born.

Porn Makes Super 8 Film the Standard

Image Credit: Screenshot of “Double Exposure” By Harrison Marks

As the pornography industry grew, so too did the demand. It wasn’t long before people wanted higher quality images, images that were more true to life and could be viewed in the privacy of their own home. People didn’t want to go to a public theater to get their fix. They wanted something much more convenient and also something much more secret. This ushered in the era of what would eventually be called Super 8 film. In 1958 a young British man by the name Harrison Marks started using Super 8 to film what he termed “glamor home movies.” These short films displayed various young women undressing in front of the camera as can be seen in his film “Double Exposure” (screenshot above). Super 8 film was cheap and accessible and most importantly it allowed people to record and view pornography from their couch. This was ultimately the deciding factor that made Super 8 a household name and paved the way for VHS tapes in the 1970’s.

VHS Takes Over Due To Porn

Image Credit: RealTeensVR

In the 1970’s a battle was raging between two competing video formats. These two formats were known as Betamax and VHS. Both offered similar capabilities but only one format allowed pornography. This format was VHS. Despite Betamax offering slightly better image quality at a comparable cost,  Betamax decided to prohibit the recording of any pornographic content on their devices. This proved to be a terrible business decision. By the end of the decade, over half of all video sales were pornographic and VHS was solidified as the format of choice among consumers.

The Internet And Porn

Image Credit: BadoinkVR

While VHS offered a degree of convenience and privacy that was previously unheard of, it wasn’t long before people demanded more. The internet was the answer. Even a trip to the local video store seems like a hassle compared to the click of a mouse. We now have over 4.2 million pornographic websites in the U.S. alone. It goes without saying that porn has done more to shape the landscape of the internet than all other genres of media combined. Even the electronic payment industry owes its existence to internet porn. It wasn’t until a man named Richard Gordon devised a way for people to pay for porn sites by credit card that electronic payments made it mainstream.

Virtual Reality And Porn

Image Credit: BadoinkVR

     So now we have virtual reality headsets. The latest and greatest form of entertainment. What do we suspect the primary use of these headsets will be? The obvious answer is porn. In fact, industry sales are already beginning to reflect this and experts are saying that by 2025 Virtual Reality Porn will be a $1 billion business.

The Future Of VR And Porn

Financial predictions are one thing but what does history have to say? The main question that everyone is asking is this: Will virtual reality last or not? The fact of the matter is this: The fate of vr is in the hands of the porn industry. If people find virtual reality porn to be a better experience than the 2d porn experiences of the past then the sky’s the limit. VR headsets will be in every suburban household across the country. Every Joseph and Mary will scoop up a headset out of sheer sexual curiosity and it won’t be long before every other form of entertainment will be forced to get in line. Everything from action flicks to Sesame Street will be recorded in 360. But this is only if porn makes it so. If people don’t find vr porn to be especially enticing then the whole vr industry is bound to flop.

The Power Lies In Porn

Image Credit: RealTeensVR

It’s an amazing time for adult entertainment. Never before in history have porn producers had so much power. They get to be the pioneers that guide us into a new era of entertainment. And don’t be mistaken, this is not just any era. This is the era where we all enter the matrix, boys. The era when that stubborn line between reality and fantasy finally starts to fade a little. The era when we might finally get a glimpse of what it means to be a god! But it’s up to porn.  If history has taught us anything it’s this: Make the porn good and no force on earth will be able to stop it. Make the porn bad and  it’s lights out.

Predictions

Image credit: VirtualRealPorn

I, for one, want to see a world where virtual sex is mainstream. Old-fashioned meat space just isn’t big enough anymore. My ever-expanding sexual ambitions need more room.  They need spaces that are simultaneously bigger and yet somehow more private. Rooms within rooms within rooms filled with every decadent behavior you can imagine.  The type of rooms that only a virtual space can provide. Like many others out there I’m reaching a  point where I don’t just want vr porn. I need vr porn. So my guess is it’s here to stay.