One thing everyone keeps saying around the web is that VR for gaming, tourism and general use may or may not ever take off; it's a wild shot. However, everyone around the web also keeps saying that if the porn industry adopts VR it will easily and quickly take off, becoming a multi-billion dollar industry overnight. Well, the porn industry is adopting VR... specifically Pornhub.
Engadget is reporting that Pornhub is ready for the virtual reality revolution, and they're not taking it lying down (pun intended). They're putting both legs up as far as enthusiasm for software, hardware and compatibility support is concerned.
According to the article, the porn-based website has been working on setting up a VR section specifically designed for users wearing HMDs. The article doesn't go into detail about what makes some videos more VR-ready than others, but rest assured that the experience has supposedly been fitted to make good use of the expensive new head gear.
The video-based pleasure-peddlers also made it known that the videos have already been optimized for the cheaper HMDs on the market such as the third-party headsets for Android and iPhone devices, as well as Samsung's $99 VR solution, the Gear VR. What's most surprising is that Pornhub doesn't refrain from saying that they will support and offer optimization for the Oculus Rift.
This may not seem much like news to most people, but keep in mind that porn on the Oculus Rift has been considered as a huge no-no for Facebook and Oculus alike.
According to a report from Reason back in the middle of 2015 last year, it was announced that while Oculus' Palmer Lucky was not averse to allowing companies to make use of the Rift's open software design for the purposes of porn, Facebook was having none of it.
In fact, in an e-mail to Fast Company a representative for Facebook wrote...
Oculus only distributes developer content that meets their terms of service, which forbids pornographic content from being a part of the Oculus Store
Well, Pornhub isn't on the Oculus Store... so there you go.
While Facebook may not want to have their expensive HMD associated with what some are considering to be the “uncanny” and “creepy” elements of virtual reality, Pornhub is already setting up their service to accommodate those who want to see certain kinds of personal encounters from a more visually intimate point of view... whether Facebook likes it or not.
In fact, Pornhub will be giving away 10,000 VR units to help bolster their new foray into VR porn. The Engadget article points to the cheap HMD solution known as Google Cardboard as the headset that Pornhub would give away.
For those that don't know, Google Cardboard is literally what it sounds like... a cheap $15 VR solution that works with Android or iOS devices that utilizes apps for dual-ocular projection with the capability to render with 360-degree immersion. It certainly doesn't have the 3D spatial tracking or infrared positional scanning like the more advanced headsets such as the HTC Vive or the Oculus Rift, but the Google Cardboard is basic enough for a general VR experience like the one Pornhub wants to offer.
Most surprising, of course, is that Pornhub is acting like the rebellious teenager hanging out with the innocent nerdy kid whose parent wants to shield them from the dangers of the world. In this case, Pornhub will offer Facebook's little Rift a world of carnal pleasures the likes of which the social media giant has tried hard to keep away from their VR child.
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