Скачать или смотреть Sex tech from women-led startups - 2020 first

(13 Jan 2020) LEAD IN:
Sex tech - many produced by women-led startups - were given a place at this year's CES gadget show.
It comes a year after organisers revoked an award for a sex device company led by a female founder.

STORY-LINE:
This year's CES allowed space for sex tech companies as a one-year trial.
They were found scattered throughout the health and wellness section, near startups pitching fitness trackers and infrared saunas.
One of the companies that pushed for the change was Lora DiCarlo.
At last year's show, organisers CTA came under fire after they revoked an innovation award for the startup's Osé robotic "personal massager".
CTA told the company it reserved the right to rescind awards for devices deemed "immoral, obscene, indecent, profane or not in keeping with CTA's image."
But this year, Lora DiCarlo was one of a dozen companies at the show focused on vibrators, lube dispensers and other sex tech products.
"We wanted to see that respectfully done, highly innovative tech that doesn't objectify human bodies, doesn't objectify women, and it's really innovative," says says Lora DiCarlo, CEO and Founder of Lora DiCarlo.
"We're just really, really happy to be the agents of change that really kind of were the catalysts for this. And we're just, we're happy that we can be leaders in this space."
DiCarlo's $290 Osé device secured $3 million worth of advance sales, bolstered in part by the attention it received after the organiser's decision to withdraw its prestigious Innovation Honoree Award in the robotics and drone category.
DiCarlo and other female founders pushed back for banning them but allowing humanoid sex robots meant to serve men the previous year.
Following criticism, CES organizers ultimately reinstated the award and apologized.
Osé began shipping to customers this month. DiCarlo says the company is planning to introduce new devices, including less expensive options.
"The way that people approach sexual health technology has not changed for at least 80 years and the way that we approach female sexuality hasn't changed for millennia," says DiCarlo.
"We demonized female sexuality. And that's why we're here, though, is to change that conversation and have that healthy dialogue and to remove the shame around sexuality."
Founders of these startups say their products are about empowerment and wellness for women, something they say has often been overlooked in tech.
Some exhibitors, including Lora DiCarlo, had prominent booths at CES, while others such as the wearable vibrator company Crave were tucked away.
Crave's exhibit included a camper with a "Build-a-Vibe-Workshop."
"This is something that has been happening for a very long time and just needed to be in a mainstream stage because people are having these conversations and it's really important to be in a place like CES, which is the largest consumer electronics show, to also have products that have to do with female sexual wellness as part of their health and wellness," says Ti Chang from Crave.
The historically male-dominated tech trade show received criticism in past years for having an all-male lineup of speakers and for previously allowing scantily clad "booth babes," fostering a "boys' club" reputation.
Much of the push came from the startups' female founders and from younger consumers who talk more openly about sexuality.
"You know, we're always trying to do things better and we definitely make mistakes. We're really good at that," says Gary Shapiro, president of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), which organizes CES.

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