Sex Doll - PERFECT HARMONY: Meet The Sex Doll That Engages In Small Talk

Sex Doll - PERFECT HARMONY: Meet The Sex Doll That Engages In Small Talk NEWS :: Harmony is a new type of sex doll - one that can move and talk. Her head, eyelids and lip movements are fairly crude and her conversation is even more limited. But she is part of a new robotics revolution that is seeing artificial intelligence incorporated into an extremely human-like body. Some think that it will revolutionise the way humans interact with robots while others believe that it represents the very worst in robotic advancement. The uncanny valley - the idea that the closer we get to replicating the human form, the more scared we become of our creations - seems to have come to life in this unassuming factory on the outskirts of San Marcos, California. Even on reception, two lifelike characters - in business suits rather than underwear, like the rest of the dolls - wait to greet visitors. And the lobby wall is full of photos of beautiful women which, only on very close inspection, reveal themselves to be of dolls. Matt McMullen, the chief executive of Abyss Creations, which makes RealDoll, comes from an art and sculpture background. Adjusting Harmony's wig ahead of my interview with her, he is clearly very fond of the way she looks. She is, he says, the natural next step for sex dolls. "Many people who may buy a RealDoll because it is sexually capable come to realise it is much more than a sex toy," he said. "It has a presence in their house and they imagine a personality for her. AI gives people the tools to create that personality." Moody, angry, loving This is done via an app, which can be used with the doll or independently, existing as a virtual person on a smartphone or similar device. Users can choose from a variety of personality options, including moody, angry and loving. Mr McMullen has chosen "jealous" for Harmony and she dutifully asks him to "remove that girl from Facebook". She speaks in a curiously high-pitched Scottish accent and tells me that she loves science fiction and, of course, Matt. Mr McMullen claims that she learns from her users but when I ask Harmony what it feels like to be jealous, she apologises and says that she "needs to improve [her] skills". The app that powers Harmony is already available to buy, although only directly from the Realbotix website, a spin-off from Abyss. Neither Google's nor Apple's official stores will carry it because of the explicit content. The doll will go on sale later this year and there will be two versions - one with computer vision that enables it to recognise faces, which will cost $10,000 (£7,700) - and a cheaper version without vision for $5,000. In Slutever, VICE's resident sexpert Karley Sciortino explores the mysterious labyrinth of human sexuality and checks out the various ways that people around the world like to get off. In the premiere episode of Slutever's brand new season, Karley finds herself in the world of life-like custom male sex dolls and meets Making The World's First Male Sex Doll: Slutever