"....a product suite from her Japan-based company (NSFW) that is the latest entry into consumer-level teledildonics. It's an example of what happens when folks from diverse disciplines combine their skills to create new ways to merge sex and tech -- and then introduce the result to the adult industry.
In this case, it's a collaboration between software developers and a product designer with a background in medical devices. And it moves teledildonics in an interesting direction.
Unlike HighJoy (NSFW) and Sinulator (NSFW), which connect two people's sex toys in real time over the internet, the Segment system combines video and tactile input into a single file that your fans -- or your lovers -- can play back at their leisure.
The input device, called Run, is an onyx shaft with a bulb on one end and sensors spaced along its surface. You use it in tandem with a webcam or camcorder and the Segment software. When you stroke the device with your hands, or lips, or whatever, the software captures the placement and pressure of each touch and embeds the signals into the video.
During playback, those signals are translated and sent to another USB device, Segment's Takumi toy. The Takumi is a soft sheath surrounded by nine motors and encased in a plastic shell that looks like a chrome bowling pin. ("So it is more discreet sitting there on your desk," Emi explains.)
The sensors on the Run correspond to the motors in the Takumi. Touching one end of the input device activates the motor near the opening of the sheath. Touching the other end of the stick activates motors deeper inside the sheath.
Segment is marketing the system to webcam actresses and porn stars as a shared-revenue proposition. Record a few videos, upload them to the Segment website, promote yourself like crazy, and collect 40 percent of the profits whenever your videos sell.
Certainly, if you already have a following as a webcam performer, offering archived videos with this additional touch seems like a simple way to increase your income. Assuming enough men will purchase the Takumi to make it worth your while.
And yet my first thought as I recorded and played back a video of myself was not about adult entertainment but rather about the opportunities for lovers.
At first, I was annoyed that the stimulation is one-way, from the stick to the sleeve. But then I realized that the Takumi is a man's answer to the Je Joue sensual massager.
The Je Joue comes with software that enables you to create custom stimulation patterns -- swirls and twirls, up and down, vibration -- at various speeds and intensities. You download the pattern to the handset, disconnect it from the USB cable, and take yourself off to play.
Men and women can both create the patterns. But the massager itself is designed for women; it is a rare man who would find it a satisfying physical experience...."
