Earlier this year Roxxxy the Sex Robot was introduced by True Companion, a New Jersey based company headed by Douglas Hines. Hines claims Roxxxy was inspired by a friend of his who died on 9/11 and he was originally looking for a way to remember and preserve his friend’s personality – so naturally a human size female sex robot came to be.  Hines says he wanted to make a “companion” that men can talk and “relate” to. Roxxxy certainly is not the first sex robot (cue Japan and their determined fetish industry).  But she is the first one that does more than make the usual groaning and moaning noises. True, Companion touts that Roxxxy is “always ready to talk or play” with “three inputs,just like a real woman”.  Unlike all the real women out there who never want to “talk or play” and have…how many “inputs” do we have anyway?

Since Hines is a soccer fan, Roxxxy can already discuss Manchester United.  Did I mention she looks remarkably like Catherine Tate (the British comedienne)? If I were her, I’d be looking for a cut of sales. At around $9,000 (laptop to program her included) it’s quite a hefty price tag for a sex toy – er, I mean companion.  Roxxxy comes with different programmable “settings”  like Frigid Farrah, who will not be welcoming of your advances (do you see where this is going?) to S&M Susan, and considering that she cannot get up off the couch without you carrying her, guess who’s going to be doing the sadism for that bit? Roxxy is slack jawed, has no body hair (if this a relief or not, I’m not sure). She also comes with an internal cooling and heating system that makes her skin warm to the touch and can simulate sleeping and snoring.  Has your creep meter shot up yet?  For the top of the line version you can pick hair color etc., and recently they upgraded her to be able to move her hips a little better.  One of the more disturbing aspects of this robot is that you can virtually “lend out” your custom Roxxxy’s personality to other Roxxxy owners for the weekend, they can use and abuse her and send her back to you on Sunday night. You also can get emails and text messages from her so you can keep in touch during the day when you are at work and she is…in the dark…in a box…under your bed.

Hines likens Roxxxy to a woman’s vibrator (his words not mine), saying that men should have something for masturbation and more. (yeah…there are no sex toys for boys out there) ..and from the sound of it, Hines seriously considers this robot as something that anyone could have a meaningful relationship with (a vibrator with a personality?).  There is even a woman named Amber I found on a robot fetish site that had a sex doll (not Roxxxy) made to look just like her and she hopes to marry it, so if Hines is only gearing Roxxxy towards men, I have some wonderful news for him about his market.

After trying to read real user reviews with an open mind, (one reviewer said it was a wild ride if you could stand looking into her “cold, dead, eyes” and suggested plugging her in if her charge died — if you needed to keep “going” which sounded risky to me) I was reminded of a serial killer I read about who had made large female figures out of wax and then killed women in order to harvest some of their real “parts” to incorporate into his wax “dolls”. 

Hines also claims that Roxxxy is a companion first and that the sex thing is just a marketing angle- despite the fact that he unveiled her and all her inputs at an Adult Exxxpo show.

In my opinion, Roxxxy is female objectification without companionship on steroids. Having a life like doll that you can program what to say, that you can flip a switch for sex or talk, that you can play out rape fantasies with, degrade, and bend (literally) to your every will sends a chill down my spine.  The human brain is not ready for this type of advancement. We adapt fast and not always in a good way, especially if we are being given positive reinforcement ie: gratifying sex without fallout to wether the sex was mutual, rough, rape etc..  If we enjoy Roxxxy and she looks and sounds and breathes like a woman, who’s to say this line could get blurred in the future, when we have to interact with the real thing and she doesn’t have an off switch?

David Levy, author of Love and Sex With Robots writes that in the future robots will become significant partners for humans answering needs that other people are unwilling or unable to satisfy. I think not. Woody Allen’s Orgasmatron (from the movie  Sleeper) maybe – because after all, Allen still had to come out of it and have a conversation with Diane Keaton that was not pre-programmed. 

Speaking of orgasm (that’s what this is all about anyway, right?) in a recent sex study researchers found that some women can bring themselves to orgasm just by thinking about it. This brings mind fucking to a whole new level and also turns our attention to homo sapian’s biggest sex organ, the brain.  While sex robots may take care of some primal immediate need or odd fantasy, they certainly can’t replace the thrill of the courtship, the laws of attraction, pheromones, and friction.

The friction that occurs between two human beings is what keeps us together isn’t it?  There is a fine line between love and hate after all.  When I asked a friend how she and her partner managed to stay together so long (fifteen years) she summed it up into one sentence. “They are the only person I’m willing to fight with.”  True, when things are not passionate we can just walk away. How does this translate into robot land?  What good is it knowing the person’s next move in any love or sexual relationship? Isn’t part of the thrill not knowing their mood all the time or what will happen next?

True Companion also recently released a male version-Rocky the Sex Robot at a $1,400 bargain- no pictures yet, he’s made to order, so perhaps there is not enough interest.

Sex robot aficionados (yes there is a whole lotta community out there on this) call for robot/human marriage and demand robot brothels – some of which are already in operation in Japan (oh Japan,  you’re so kinky!). While less prostitution may be a worthy cause for the advancement of women, the fact that it’s replaced by behavior that will only encourage treating women more like objects than ever before will only cause more complication in the already complicated relationships we have with each other as human beings.

The thing that freaks me out about this the most, is that if we are attaching ourselves to artificial intelligence to the degree that (besides having sex with them) we can “check in” with them via email and texting, hear them “breathing” in bed next to us, hope to have a (totally pre-written) conversation with them about things we “mutually” enjoy, or even marry them; where does the abuse of a robot become a moral issue?

Please taboojive readers, make my I (have sex with a)Robot nightmares stop!  Post your thoughts on Roxxxy or replacing a human relationship with a robot below.  Oh yeah, here’s the site www.truecompanion.com go, get freaked out.

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