'A huge violation': 'Creepy' truth about virtual sex slaves

Ever fantasised about someone you can't have? Now you can make your fantasy a reality. Photo / 123RF

Have you ever fantasised about someone you can't have? An ex, perhaps, or a hot celebrity, or your best friend's really attractive husband?

I certainly have. Some of those fantasies involve adult-type activities; others involve complex and deeply satisfying plots of revenge.

And it's my prerogative to do whatever I want in the privacy of my imagination. I can also look at whatever photographs are in my possession, or photos I can access online. After all, mooning over photographs of crushes is nothing new. I used to sigh over pictures of Michael J Fox when I was a teenager, not to mention yearbook photos of a certain boy in my class.

But what if I used those pictures to create a photorealistic 3D avatar of the person I was lusting after? And what if I then transposed that avatar into a game where I could make them do whatever I wanted? Where I could have photorealistic 3D sex with them, put them in a torture device, or slap them in the face?

Because this is what's coming. In fact, this is what we already have. Vice magazine reports that a community of 3D graphics hobbyists are making and selling highly realistic avatars of real people for their (primarily male) clients. The hobbyists use photographs to generate 3D simulations of the people, and then the simulations are migrated into programs like Virt-A-Mate, which create 3D virtual porn.

I get why this is tantalising. I have a bit of a crush on Jason Momoa, and I would very much enjoy a couple of hours alone in a computer with him.

But would I create a Jason Momoa avatar and have virtual sex with him without his consent? No, because I would be horrified if a stranger carefully reconstructed my image and had sex with my likeness online. And I would be even more horrified if it wasn't a stranger who was using me, but rather my ex-spouse, or my boss, or that man I rejected last year.

Using someone else's likeness to engage in virtual sex feels creepy as hell, and a huge violation. I suspect, however, that the Virt-A-Mate users know this, and are not in the slightest bit fussed. They feel entitled to have access to the bodies they desire, and if they can't achieve that in the real world, they will do so online.

But is sex with an avatar of a real person good for anyone?

Well, having virtual sex with a virtual ex won't help these men to move on from their heartbreak. Therapists recommend keeping a distance from recent exes, not having simulated sex with their likeness on the computer on the regular.

And no matter who the avatar, engaging in 3D virtual sex isn't the same as an actual physical connection. An avatar can be programmed to respond with the click of a button, but this doesn't work at all with sentient humans.

Men who spend hours with simulations won't learn how to satisfy a real-life woman; they may even lose the capacity to be satisfied by real-life sex. They may be great at pleasing their virtual girlfriends, but in the human world, they'll come up short.

But will it matter? Chances are, a man who keeps a 3D rendering of a woman without her consent isn't prime boyfriend material. Keeping a 3D sex slave is the modern equivalent of papering your walls with thousands of photographs of your obsession. It's scary, it's creepy, and it's a sign that something is off.

Still, technology marches resolutely on. What a world we (and our avatars) are inhabiting.