CES has almost entirely succeeded in chasing sex tech out of showrooms

Image credits: Oh doki

CES has long been a launching pad for innovation and cutting-edge technology. However, at this year’s event, there was a clear void: the almost complete absence of sex technology. Despite being an industry that caters to a universal human experience, sex tech has always had an uneasy association with CES.

This year, its conspicuous absence raises the question: Why do we still so cautiously resist the merging of technology and intimacy?

In 2019, sex tech had a major moment at CES when pleasure tech company Lora DiCarlo won the Innovation Award — only to have it rescinded, then reinstated after widespread backlash. (It later stopped working.) This controversy has highlighted the uneasy relationship between the mainstream tech industry and its more intimate cousin.

Fast forward to 2024, and it appears that CES has effectively chased the sex tech industry out of the showrooms.

I looked up sex tech companies for a roundup, and there were few enough to identify only one trend: not in sex tech, but in its absence. onDistinguished electronic company: Norwegian company Ohdokithe creators useful Oh! Which was launched at CES as a refreshing presence in the tech-wise scene. Their booth was bustling with activity, a stark contrast to the largely absent sex-tech event.

It’s unclear whether it’s CES itself that is trying to reduce the amount of sex appeal on its show floors — the show itself has evolved a lot over the years, and this reporter thinks it’s a relief to see so-called “booth girls” absent: a big change from My first CES in 2007 or so, where models were everywhere wearing skimpy outfits. But while I celebrate the rejection of sexism – anthropomorphism in kiosks has no place in 2024 – sex itself must have a place in the tech vernacular.

It’s puzzling to me why we, as a society, continue to erase sex from technology — when it’s a universal part of the human experience — to such an extent.