CES has long been a launch pad for innovation and cutting-edge technology. At this year’s event, however, there was a glaring void: almost no sex tech. Although sex tech is an industry that caters to universal human experiences, it has always had an unsettling connection to CES.
This year, its conspicuous absence raises the question: Why are we still so wary of resisting the integration of technology and intimacy?
Sex tech made headlines at CES in 2019 when pleasure tech company Lora DiCarlo won an innovation award, but the award was later revoked and then reinstated after widespread backlash. (It later closed down). The controversy highlights the uneasy relationship between the mainstream tech industry and its closer brethren.
Fast forward to 2024, and CES appears to have effectively kicked the sex tech industry out of the showrooms.
I went looking for sex tech companies to do a roundup, but there weren’t nearly enough companies to identify just one trend: not in sex tech, but in the absence of sex tech.existe Company stands out: Norwegian company OKthe creator of convenient Launched at CES, Oh! brings a refreshing take on the otherwise reserved tech world. The buzz at their booth was a stark contrast to the largely sex-tech-free event.
It’s unclear whether CES itself is trying to reduce the sexiness of its shows – the show itself has changed a lot over the years, and this reporter believes seeing so-called “booth beauties” has all but disappeared. I was relieved to be absent: It’s a big change from my first CES attendance, around 2007, when scantily clad models were everywhere. But while I celebrate the elimination of sexism – in 2024, objectification in booths will no longer exist – sex itself should have a place in the language of technology.
It baffles me why we, as a community, continue to erase sex from technology – when it is such a pervasive part of the human experience – to such an extent.
