COUSRTEY Sep 09 2016 : The Economic Times (Mumbai)
ADULT SITES SEE THE BIG PICTURE IN VIRTUAL REALITY - VR Like that Only: Tech Gives Porn a High, Virtually
Aritra Sarkhel @timesinternet in
Bengaluru


Virtual Reality is not just dragging viewers to these portals but is also solving a fundamental problem -how to make people pay
Back in the late 90s, Angie Rowntree was vexed by the complete absence of made-forwomen porn on the web. “When I'd talk to my male peers about my idea for starting a porn site for women, they all told me `women don't watch porn' or `there's no market'. My personal favourite was, `Women are not visual',“ recalls Rowntree, who went on to start sssh.com -amongst the first porn sites catering to a female audience -in 1999.Seventeen years later, Rowntree hasn't just proven her male peers wrong but is also convinced that “there definitely is a market, and it's growing“. Part of the reason for the portal's growth is also the way it has adopted cutting edge technology like virtual reality and ultrahigh definition cameras. “VR (Virtual Reality) in the adult industry is our fastest growth sector in years,“ said Rowntree, adding that India is the fourth largest market for the portal.
Virtual Reality is not just dragging viewers to the portals but is also solving a fundamental problem that the industry has faced for years now -getting them to use their credit cards. “It's giving people a reason to pay for porn again.The experience is leagues beyond content you would find on a free site,“ said Ian Paul, CIO, Naughty America.

The porn industry has always been an early adopter of cutting edge technology. “They began building websites, which attracted traffic, which then made it worthwhile for non-adult websites to be built. As traffic grew, adult sites developed innovations like online payments, optimisation of websites, video streaming, etc,“ says Frederick Lane, author of the book, `Obscene Profits: The Entrepreneurs of Pornography in the Cyber Age'.

But then, with 2008 came the age of the “tubes“ -portals that were inspired by the success of YouTube and hosted free content largely stolen from paysites and studios.Customers got used to free sites and stopped paying for porn. VR, adult business producers like Rowntree believe, can change the tide again.

“VR is the current game changer and at which point the technology of live video sex on VR headsets becomes available, a whole new world opens up,“ says Rowntree, adding that the immersive technology can take adult storytelling to new highs. “If the performers walk up a hillside, you get to follow them up, and look at the grass beneath your feet and the sky above you. You also get to see what's behind you. There's an amazing freedom of movement.“

Another significant upgrade that the porn industry is making is the move to 4k video. U