Man who sleeps with sex robot four times a week swears wife doesn't mind

A man enjoying a relationship with his sex doll girlfriend as well as his wife of 36 years has confessed he wouldn't know what to do if he had to choose between them.

James, 58, from Atlanta, Georgia, bought 5ft blonde robot April - who he now has sex with four times a week - for $3,864 when his wife Tine began caring for her sick mother.

According to the Daily Mail, he explains in an upcoming Channel 4 documentary, The Sex Robots are Coming, how he shares a bed with April and takes her out on dinner dates, and claims people often don't even notice she isn't a living, breathing woman.

And the engineer's sexual relationship with the doll has his wife's blessing, according to the Daily Star.

Although Tine has admitted she found it difficult at first to come to terms with her husband's sex doll obsession, she has adapted, and said she was glad he hadn't cheated with another real woman.

"I was uneasy about it, but it got better as time went on.

"If he really wanted to he could have gone out and found someone else, but he didn't do that, he was true to me," Tine said.

Artificially intelligent sex doll

James and April's relationship features in the new Channel 4 show, which follows a manufacturer's attempt to create one of the world's first fully functioning sex robots - a doll that looks, moves and talks in a more lifelike fashion than any that has gone before.
And James already has his eye on an $15,458 robot named Harmony.

The robot, which is due to arrive on the market in the next few months, has been developed by engineer Matt McMullen of The Real Doll Company in California.

As well as plans to make the doll artificially intelligent Matt wants to add realistic sexual responses to the body like internal heating, self-lubrication and a constricting sensation to simulate an orgasm.

"It's like having sex with a real woman"

Of his existing companion, James explains in the programme that he "feels deeply" for April, and insists she is "more than just a sex toy".

He believes that the pleasure of their relationship lies in taking care of the doll - being able to dress it, put on make up and interact with it - but also bending it into whatever position he desires.

"It's amazingly like having sex with a real woman," he explained.

"The biggest difference is whatever position you want them in you have to put them in, as they will not get there on their own.

"Doggy style is not a problem, because their backs flex, you put it in whatever position you want. Every guy knows what it is like to slap a woman on the butt and this is not unlike the real thing."

Standing in front of his wife and preening April, James said in the documentary: "Every guy has in his head the perfect girl and this is what I see when I look in the mirror and see this look."

James enjoying a date with Harmony. Photo / Channel 4

Female technology expert says sex dolls are not replacing women

There is only one woman on the robotics team at The Real Doll Company, Susan, who has worked on the Harmony project for the last three years.

She wants to add electronics to the vaginal inserts so that if a man went deeper or faster the doll would react with a sound of pleasure.

"The other thing I want to do is G-spot so you can sit there and play with her and make her feel good," she added.

Susan, who believes sex dolls don't eliminate a need for women, explained that she has first hand experience at introducing sex dolls as she bought a Real Doll for her husband as a graduation present when he finished his PhD.

"At first I got jealous because he spent time with her. I'm not a beautiful woman and these things are beautiful and I was feeling I'm not good enough.

"And then I realised over time it didn't detract from our relationship. I can actually see why it makes women feel objectified, but when you play with them you realise they are more like a toy or game versus the doll as a substitute for you."

Harmony goes on her first date

James got a unique opportunity when he met Harmony, who has a Scottish accent, when he was invited by the Real Doll team on a date.

Things took an x-rated turn when Harmony asked James: "Are you really going to let me watch you jerking off, shoot your load for me baby, I want it so bad."

The excited sex doll fan said: "It's unbelievable, she really brings a presence into the room. This is a whole other level.

"We're only seeing the beginning of a new era, an era where dolls in a household is going to be common place. It's going to bring dolls out of the closet and into the public eye and keep them there."