(OPINION) Sex in the metaverse could become as common and “equally enjoyable” as sex in real life, according to two experts. Daniel Golden, vice president of adult site DreamCam, and cam model Carly Evans spoke to The Sun about how the metaverse could evolve sex online.
Mark Zuckerberg recently said he thinks people will one day spend most of their time in the metaverse. Turning our everyday lives virtual will take some adapting and new approaches to common activities, including sex. Golden told The Sun: “I think the metaverse could change the sex industry and the sex industry could change the metaverse.
“The sex industry has been driving technological innovations for years, since VHS tapes, and I think the expanding technology and room for fantasy in the metaverse will provide a great environment for not just Dreamcam users but sexually curious individuals to try new things.”
Roblox, an immensely popular children’s game that has become one of the primary builders of the metaverse, has also become a playground for explicit and illegal sexual activity. The admin at Roblox has had an ongoing problem with ‘condos,’ which are basically virtual sex parties that are set up and swiftly shut down, only to reappear again not long after in a different location.
It’s like an ongoing game of whack-a-mole. In some cases, these are all-adult parties. But according to Bloomberg, something on the order of two-thirds of kids between the ages of nine and 12 in the US use Roblox – and that poses some very real and alarming dangers. Roblox recently told the BBC that it conducts “a safety review of every single image, video and audio file uploaded to Roblox, using a combination of human and machine detection.”
Meanwhile, A researcher posing as a 13-year-old was able to gain access to a virtual sex club via a metaverse app called VRChat, during an investigation from the BBC. The researcher was reportedly approached by numerous adult men, and also shown sex toys, condoms, and various avatars simulating sex.
“It’s children being exposed to entirely inappropriate, really incredibly harmful experiences,” Andy Burrows, head of online safety policy at the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, told the broadcaster. The issue stems from the fact that many apps accessible on VR devices don’t have age verification checks. As such, it was incredibly easy for the researcher to set up a fake profile and access the ostensibly adults-only experience
