Porn seeks seat at the tech table

LAS VEGAS, US – For the first time in more than a decade, adult entertainment was back in view at the Consumer Electronics Show gadget extravaganza in Las Vegas.

Naughty America had a room in a virtual reality section of the show floor, where it demonstrated how its video performed on rival headsets from HTC, Samsung, and Facebook-owned Oculus.

“It was packed at times,” company chief information officer Ian Paul said as CES came to a close on Sunday, Jan 8.

“It felt like the walking dead with people banging on the doors,” he quipped, in reference to a hit zombie television series.

It was the first time in 16 years that the porn industry was back in bed with the premier gadget extravaganza, which marked its 50th anniversary this year, according to Paul.

“We were admitted because we are doing VR, not on the basis of being adult,” Paul said.

“We see it as having a legitimate seat at the table to do business and capitalize on a growing market.”

California-based Naughty America has been in business since early 2000 and prided itself on being quick to adopt new technologies.

Alliances proposed to the company at CES included a maker of indoor drones pitching the idea of using camera-mounted flying machines for ceiling angle shots.

Naughty America pumps out two VR videos weekly for viewing at its subscription streaming service.

“We are facing piracy every day, so we chose to elevate the bar and give people a reason to pay for porn,” Paul said.

“Our customers don’t want to mess around with going to the dark corners of the internet to find something they could just pay for.”

Revenue from VR video has more than tripled at the company in the past year, but still only represents a small percentage of the money it makes, according to Paul.

He said the company is poised to release smart sex toys that synchronize with content, providing a physical touch.

“Live-streamed performances online could get very interesting,” Paul said. – Rappler.com