Looking For Straight A's At Sex Toy School

Have you ever wondered where and how sex toys are designed? Have you ever thought you could do a better job at it than the companies who are doing it now? If you’ve ever fancied yourself someone with a knack for devising pleasure and sexual health products, but didn’t know where to start, there is now a school to get into the field of sexual product design.

The college-level course Future Sex Studio at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) is a 12 week studio wherein students dream up new sex products or related items that fill a sexual health or well-being need. The projects are diverse and intriguing, some innovating on current ideas, other brand new shots in the dark.

The idea of taking an academic approach to sexual health products is fairly unique. Most dildos, vibrators, butt plugs and more come out of the minds working at sex toy manufacturers. While their focus might be more on pleasure, their items to frequently have a health-related component as well.

So, what kind of sexual product or toy would you design? Are your sexual health and pleasure needs being met by the items that are already on the market, or are you looking for something different? What types of requests could we make to these students?

Major in design

One of the most frequent complaints I’ve ever heard about sex toys, particularly vibrators, is that they aren’t ergonomically comfortable. Some people take longer to reach orgasm, and holding a vibe in place that long can put stress on the arm, wrist, hand and fingers. Nobody wants to get a cramp just as they are about to orgasm. Strides are already being made in this area with vibrators coming in shapes that are more amenable to being held.

Double the pleasure

Another market that is ripe for investment of research is sex toys that provide pleasure to both partners during sex. It can be both fun and frustrating trying to incorporate sexual devices into coupled sex play, particularly penetrative penis-in-vagina sex. There just isn’t much room to play with between two people. Considering the fact that the majority of women cannot achieve orgasm through intercourse alone but need some form of clitoral stimulation to get off, there must be some way to help with this. The We-Vibe line of products does address this need, but the main concern with them is their effectiveness for women of size.

A for accessibility

Perhaps one of the most pressing sexual health development needs is making sex toys accessible for people with physical disabilities to use on their own without the aid of an attendant. The sex world in general needs much improvement for people with disabilities, but accessing the joys of masturbation without someone else’s help could markedly improve their lives and sexual satisfaction. But, not only do the products need to be accessible to use for those with dexterity difficulties, but making them easy to clean and store would be fantastic.

So, anyone out there with inklings toward sexual product design... you’re welcome for the ideas.