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If It’s OK to Fantasize About Someone You Know, Why Not in VR?
Erotic deepfakes are only going to make the question of sexual ethics muddier and more confusing
In a 1990 episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, a socially anxious crew member named Reginald Barclay manages his fears and insecurities by retreating to the holodeck, where he programs fantasy versions of his fellow crew members. His male colleagues are recast as his adoring acolytes, while his female ones are made hypersexualized and subservient. When his colleagues stumble upon their fantasy counterparts, they are understandably uncomfortable and upset by the liberties Barclay has taken with their images and identities.
The episode was intended more as an allegory about the dangers of retreating into fantasy than a literal warning against virtual reality. But nearly 30 years later, Barclay’s holodeck adventures feel less sci-fi and more like current technology. Over the past few weeks, Vice has run a series of stories exploring the bleeding edge of rapidly advancing VR porn tech — including lifelike VR models, often based on real people, that are designed to sync with an interactive sex toy like the Fleshlight Launch. While this technology, found on communities like Virt-A-Mate, isn’t as seamless as the holodeck…
