Sex with Robots: a qualitative study

In this paper we investigates what fascinates men in sex robots. The scientific literature, both in the fields of technology and sexology, is very limited. First we'll discuss different types of robots and the precursors of the sex robot (like the sex dolls and sex machines) after which we'll discuss the available literature on sex robots. The emphasis shall be on the exploratory qualitative study that we conducted, especially because it's the first in his kind. It's important to focus more on the psychological influences that sex (and love?) with robots can evoke. Therefore we organized focus-groups with six heterosexual Flemish men, aged between 20 and 40 years, who were interested in or had experience with sex toys. The research question was: "What fascinates men in sex robots?". We analyzed the data on the basis of a thematic analysis. Results showed us that the fascination of men regarding sex robots was mainly focused around the tension about being "real/not real" as a woman of flesh and blood. Clearly more psychological studies on the subject of sex with robots are needed. Since sex robots will be used in a human-robot interaction, we have to be sensitive to and take into account the psychological consequences and the consequences (sex)robots will have on human relationships. This paper will not only provide information on the current knowledge of sex robots, but it also raises questions about human identity and, by extension, about human experience of love and sexuality; and about what we do expect of our sex partner and what insoluble tensions we will have to deal with during our lives.