Before the Internet, long distant relationships consist of long conversations on the phone, love letters, and trips via airplane, bus, car, or train. The lovers longed for the day in which they would be united. Once the Internet became available, a new kind of communication was developed that was more immediate and cost effective. There was one problem that needed to be addressed that even the Internet could not answer, the sensory aspect of the relationship. In other words, how can physical intimacy take place over long distances?
Using Skype, text messages, and picture attachments may fall short of the new innovation available for long distant connections. Gone are the days of distant lovers waiting days, weeks, month or even years to embrace. All that is needed is an iPhone loaded with the underwear that vibrates app, bra and panties or boxer-briefs to make long distant sparks fly. Durex, an international condom manufacturer is in the experimental phase of launching Fundawear to take long distance intimacy to a new level. Fundawear uses the same technology that makes cellular phones vibrate to make the underwear vibrate. Hundreds of sensors are embedded in the underwear. These sensors can be activated by the iPhone app (the underwear that vibrates app). The app displays a replication of the underwear with zones in which the participants would like to control. All the participants have to do is slide their fingers over the zones and via the Internet, the virtual touch takes place.
Although Fundawear has not been launched to date, they have had a few consumers experiment with the product. It seems to work as planned according to an Australian couple who have tried the product and posted a video on the Internet. The product will be initially launched in Australia once the experimental phase is complete. The company has not given any indication of the actual launch date. However, the company has a Facebook page in which interested or potential buyers of the product can enter into a contest to win the product to experience it firsthand.
Vibrating underwear is not exclusive to Durex. There have been many companies that have experimented and launched such products. The innovation is brought by the manner in which Durex uses existing cellular phone technology to surpass a handheld remote control that only works in close proximity to the garment. They have found a way to capitalize on the use of the Internet to touch essentially all around the world.
How will this affect relationships in the future, not just long distant intimate relationships but relationships that are local and personal? Are we essentially evolving into cyborgs, man and machine that rely less on human touch, but the experiences we can get from computer generated love with technological extremities infused with our bodies that can be turned off and on not only by another individual, but by oneself. We will have to wait and see how this product is adopted to get more answers about the possibilities of technology driven intimacy. Until then, Fundawear will be a fantasy, just like the fantasy that creeps into the minds of distant lovers wanting a physical, intimate connection that is not achievable by Skype, text messaging, or picture attachments.