Oscar Quine of British Newspaper ‘The Independent’ asks whether the VR race will be determined by pornographers seeking to make a fortune from the coming virtual worlds…
Toby is one of a handful of people around the world engaged in a pornographic space race. The first man to the moon will be he who achieves video-quality interactive content. An immersive porn videogame, if you like, in which the character(s) of your choosing will respond to your every prompt and indulge your every fantasy. Because of technology like his, the graphics won’t just be lifelike, they will be perfect representations of the real world. And for an industry beleaguered by the explosion of free video sites, a game-changing, paid-for product like this can’t come along soon enough.
As with Apollo and Sputnik, the technology comes with a hefty price tag. In the centre of Toby’s studio stands a rig of 150 Canon 100D cameras pointed inward from every conceivable angle to a central stage. This is where he photographs the models. A set of images taken simultaneously is processed by a computer 100 times more powerful than a home PC to create a VR reproduction in intricate detail.
Toby has spent £250,000 on the set-up to date – and needs another £1-2m to trade up to video cameras. He’s confident it’s a shrewd investment. “When it hits the consumer market, it’s going to go absolutely mental,” he says, earmarking next year for the first interactive VR products. “I don’t think the public are aware of what’s going to happen.”
