
We're making hackable, open-source sex toys (NSFW) - durkie
https://www.comingle.io
======
durkie
Hi all! We're making an Arduino-based sex toy platform to which you can attach
any kind of sensor or controller and change change how your toy responds. You
can also create interesting motor vibration patterns or build your own toy in
whatever form you like.

So far we've had lots of fun connecting wii Nunchucks, heart-rate monitors,
music/audio sensors, capacitive touch sensing (a la makey makey -- turn almost
anything in to a touch interface. Bananas, body piercings, large metal objects
are fun here), stroke sensors, and geiger counters (weirdest, but probably the
most boring, at least in relatively radiation-free Atlanta).

Our toys are hopefully going to be exposing lots of people to programming that
have no experience with it, and we're excited about creating fun tools to do
this.

On the back-end, currently the only way to talk to an Arduino over the web is
via the NPAPI plugin architecture (deprecated and soon to be highly-restricted
by Chrome), or by the Chrome Serial API. So we'll be developing a graphical
front-end that turns intention ("make all the motors vibrate in this pattern",
"make the accelerometer in my wii nunchuck" increase/decrease vibration
pattern frequency") in to Arduino code, which then gets compiled on the back-
end and delivered via Chrome extension to your toy.

~~~
nemik
Very cool! But ATMega's can be pretty pricey as well as connectors like USB.
Bluetooth LE would be a pretty good alternative especially since it's
wireless.

Check out platforms like the mbed
([http://developer.mbed.org/](http://developer.mbed.org/)) which can work with
Nordic's really nice nRF51822 chipset. This is the same one in the Estimote
iBeacons and it's a very nice platform.

They even come in module forms that are pre-certified with the FCC to make
integration with end-devices more friendly. Modules such as the PTR5518 can be
pretty cheap ([http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/PTR5518-Coin-size-
nR...](http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/PTR5518-Coin-size-
nRF51822Bluetooth-4-0-module-Ultra-small-size-smaller-than-CR2032-coin-
battery-Free/130096_1705282663.html)) and small, and they just could get
soldered to your existing circuit. Best of all, the mbed source code you write
for the firmware works directly in those modules too.

Good luck with the project!

~~~
foldr
>Modules such as the PTR5518 can be pretty cheap

Those are $8 each! That's _way_ too expensive if they want to sell this thing
for < $100. I'd think you'd probably want the total cost for making these to
be ~$15 max.

I've also been looking into wireless connectivity options for consumer
devices, and the options do not look too good for small companies or
individuals. You can get NRF51822 chips for around $3 each in bulk, but then
you are greatly increasing the difficulty level and making FCC certification
potentially much more painful. (I mean, say you get it working but then it
fails the emissions test. If you're not an Real Electronic Engineer, how are
you realistically going to fix that?)

Also, not everything supports bluetooth LE, and consumers just know that their
device has "Bluetooth" (if they even know that), and are going to get pissed
if their Bluetooth device can't connect to your (ahem) dildo.

MicroUSB connectors aren't super expensive (less than $1 each in bulk).

Anyway, none of the frustration there is directed at you -- just ranting a
bit.

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lgierth
A .io domain for a dildo company is kind of... classy.

~~~
1qaz2wsx3edc
Clearly it should be dil.do

~~~
deeviant
dild.io?

~~~
ant6n
dildo.io

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jack-r-abbit
Seems like this type of platform would be a good base for building SexBot type
things that are connected remotely. Guy in one location is making love to his
Fleshlight, which uses sensors to alter the behavior of the vibrator his long-
distance partner has. And vice-versa. Huge potential there.

~~~
tbrownaw
Also known as "teledildonics".

Which is a totally awesome word that I don't get to use _nearly_ enough.

~~~
twic
"It's like Chatroulette, but for teledildonics"

~~~
jack-r-abbit
I can definitely see a market for stuff like that. The first cam site that
adds that could probably rule the world.

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SwellJoe
This is awesome. I've had so many interesting conversations with friends who
work in the webcam modeling industry about the possibilities of technology.
And, we're beginning to get past the stigma of sex toys for men, so the
potential market is roughly doubling in size over the next few years (in
addition to the increasing openness about sex and sexuality providing further
increases in market size). It really is a fascinating industry that I've
considered stepping into for years.

Nearly all of these toys only provide pieces of the puzzle, though. There is
no connectivity across smart toys from different manufacturers, there are
rarely multiple components allowing male-female play remotely, there's a
haphazard approach to the existing industries in this space (i.e. there are
"toy + movie" products, but there is no standard for it, as far as I know). I
feel like the industry hasn't learned the lessons taught by PC
standardization: Being able to use one manufacturer's software with another
manufacturer's hardware on yet another manufacturer's platform leads to a much
bigger market than a vertically integrated thing. (I think.)

~~~
durkie
You're totally right and that's exactly what we want to address!

Sex toys are no longer taboo things -- they sell vibrators at drug stores in
the US now, and sex toy shops have transformed from sleazy, look-both-ways
places to sex-positive, clean, and couples-friendly boutiques.

We're hoping both to launch our toy, but launch an open-source platform as
well. I know of at least one manufacturer awaiting our campaign results for
integration of our electronics in to their toys.

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bsder
And again, I see a magic "$50,000" crowdfunding.

I wish people would stop this. It sets the expectation that "$50K is enough to
produce a consumer product" when it's almost _never_ enough.

At about $10/hour that's only 5,000 labor hours. That's roughly 1 year for 2
people solely on labor alone. No software, no hardware, no molds, no 3D
prints, no customer support, no packaging, no documentation, etc.

I know that there is a balance between an amount that can get funded, but in
my charitable moments I believe the reason for so many hardware failures is
that people don't ask for the amount they actually need.

(Side note: In my less charitable moments, I posit that people keep the amount
below $100K because it isn't worth taking someone to court over that amount.)

~~~
durkie
Point taken! But we're also not starting from scratch here. We've been doing
prototypes for the past year along with continuous software development and
refinement, and project documentation and workshops and conferences and ...

We're at the point where we believe we have a design that can be manufactured
and work well, that we can make enough off of it to fund future products, and
that $50k will fund an initial order run of those products.

You're definitely right that $50k doesn't cover our costs given what we've put
in to it already (including labor), but the goal is to run a profitable
business once we've gotten our initial kickstart, if you will.

And of course, there is also a publicity aspect to it too. Campaigns that
wildly outperform their initial goals (fingers crossed) look a lot better than
those that barely make it or don't at all.

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amirmc
I'm impressed but I've got to wonder how big the market is for this. How many
people (of either gender) want to hack on their sex toys?

~~~
AlyssaRowan
There seems to be a strong positive correlation between creativity and
kinkiness that can definitely be a lot of fun to explore.

For example, in the area of hackable unconventional sex toys, ideas I haven't
seen here but that may be worth exploring: solenoid valves (to control fluid
or air flows? — _test!_ — have emergency release valves!); linear actuators
and a few pumps (see above); in-line flow meters (to measure them? Interesting
elements of breath control possible); pin lattices with solenoids/linear
actuators/similar (programmable textures?); and, of course, inexpensive
accelerometers.

Things I have seen, and played with which have been variously modified include
certain TENS units (not really a fan) and 'violet wands' (a fan!).

There might be product ideas here, but they're likely to be kind of… _niche_.
Still, kinky people can host quite dedicated niches sometimes (and that's
about all I'm going to say about that here! <g>).

------
fishnchips
"Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick
to possibilities; Truth isn't."

― Mark Twain

~~~
duaneb
What is an impossible truth? I think Bertram Russell would disagree with
Twain.

Perhaps he meant something closer to 'the probable' or 'the plausible'

~~~
ashark
I think the key insight of the sentence is that "possibilities" are
subjective, and don't necessarily match reality (the truth).

When fiction defies expectations (possibilities), we reject it as absurd. When
reality does, we have to accept it (modify our notion of "possible").

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numlocked
A friend of mine (and physics PhD) created this:

[http://psigasm.net/](http://psigasm.net/)

Which seems in a similar vein. An open-source dildo complete with pressure and
blood flow sensors. Although the Psigasm is theoretically focused on human
sexuality research rather than recreational uses.

------
transman
Transman here... I don't know if the tech is here yet or not, but I'd love to
see a double-sided toy that responded on one side to sensations from the other
side. For example, my girlfriend could give me a handjob, or what not, that I
could feel.

~~~
zodiakzz
Why would you need your girlfriend to do it? You can just auto tune it for
maximum pleasure.

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ddingus
Awesome. Go big, have lots of fun.

.io is a great call. Big grin over here.

------
stolio
In a similar vein there was a "Hacking My Vagina" (NSFW) thread from a couple
of years ago about a dildo/arduino project complete with hands-free operation:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4826561](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4826561)

It was interesting from both a technical and a "what's the future going to
look like?" perspective.

------
gbajson
Finally! Maybe someone will eventually implement "emergency retreat mode" to
avoid these astonishing visits in a hospital.

[http://imgace.com/pic/tag/radiology-class-x-ray-of-
vibrator-...](http://imgace.com/pic/tag/radiology-class-x-ray-of-vibrator-
stuck-in-patient/)

------
thisjepisje
VR helmet + strap-on with stereo camera in the tip. Would be interesting, if
nothing else.

~~~
durkie
We've sort of tried this? :)

We have a howto ([https://www.comingle.io/howto/computer-vision-
dildos](https://www.comingle.io/howto/computer-vision-dildos) ) that connects
our vibrator to the image coming off of a webcam, and the webcam of course is
inserted in another dildo

~~~
zaroth
Hawking would love it, it's dildos all the way down.

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onan_barbarian
In Soviet Russia, device roots you!

------
amelius
The most fascinating part: it seems people here are more excited about this
toy than about having actual real-life sex :)

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innguest
Isn't it too early for this?

How much customization can you really achieve before 3d Printers can print
silicone-like materials and the rest of those plastics used for sex toys?

I just can't believe so much customization can come from twiddling bits when
the crux of the issue is materials and ergonomics. I say this from having
observed over the years that sex toys have evolved in both those areas (again,
materials and ergonomics) but no so much on the electronics part of it (which,
I argue, has or would have minor impact on the final product).

~~~
AlyssaRowan
3D printers already can — I believe Bad Dragon's rather exotic pieces are made
that way?

~~~
durkie
We love Bad Dragon! They are true artisans (www.bad-dragon.com -- SUPER nsfw,
but truly amazing).

We met their founder at Arse Elektronika in October, and I think they 3D print
their masters, but still do all their molding by hand.

