Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing
  3. News

First Japanese VR porn festival ends prematurely, due to overcrowding

Add as a preferred source on Google

Japan’s first VR porn festival rolled over and started smoking a cigarette before it even got its clothes off. Due to overcrowding, the first time anyone had ever gathered a number of virtual-reality pornography enthusiasts into a single building ended far sooner than anyone expected. The packed crowds gave rise to safety concerns.

Virtual reality pornography is something that people have tried to make a “reality” since the first inception of Palmer Luckey’s Oculus Rift DK1 headset back in 2012. From photographic scans of live models, to 360-degree video, to 100-percent digital creations that exhibit realistic “physics,” it’s been created and viewed by more people than one might expect.

Recommended Videos

Enough in fact, that an industry is growing up around it. There are a number of companies now which offer not only software content, but also hardware, including tools, peripherals, and accessories that can synchronize with VR content in a number of ways.

Related: The next knock on your hotel room door could be a virtual reality companion

The only thing that may have caught industry participants by surprise is the popularity of this application of VR. As it turns out, so many people crowded outside the venue in the Akihabara district of Tokyo, that before the event had even let in a fraction of the people waiting outside, organizers closed it down, for fear that a riot or some other disruptive event could take place. They made large and sincere apologies to those who had made the trip, and promised to hold the festival soon in a much more suitable (that is, larger) venue.

A few of those waiting did manage to make it inside, where they saw all manner of virtual tools for scratching that very real-world itch. Life-size dolls twinned with Oculus Rift headsets, along with other devices, were observed. VR porn enthusiasts were purportedly more than eager to try the new toys out, according to a translation of the HatenaBlog on VRTalk.

Jon Martindale
Jon Martindale covers how to guides, best-of lists, and explainers to help everyone understand the hottest new hardware and…
South Korea wants to give every citizen free, unlimited access to its own AI chatbot
The government-backed service could turn generative AI into public infrastructure instead of another monthly subscription
Electronics, Mobile Phone, Phone

South Korea wants to give every citizen free access to an AI chatbot with no usage limits. That puts the technology closer to a public utility than another premium service demanding a monthly subscription.

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced the AI for Everyone project on July 13. Private companies will build the platform around locally developed models, while a separate AI agent will help people navigate government services. It’s a more practical job than generating emails or settling arguments nobody wanted to research themselves.

Read more
Falling in love with a chatbot is now off limits for kids in China
The crackdown targets emotional AI relationships as regulators worry about the country's record low birthrate.
Replika AI companion app on an iPhone in hand

Ever since AI chatbots arrived on the scene, there has been one aspect that has worried lawmakers and experts a lot: humans forming emotional connections with chatbots. There have been plenty of cases where over-reliance on these AI companions or partners has resulted in medical emergencies, lost lives, and triggered multiple lawsuits against the likes of OpenAI and Meta.

China cracks down on AI companion apps

Read more
Russian hackers keep finding their way into critical networks through neglected routers
A multinational warning says outdated firmware, weak passwords, and insecure settings are giving state-backed attackers an easy opening
A Wi-Fi router next to a laptop.

Russian state-backed hackers have spent more than a decade exploiting a stubborn weakness in critical infrastructure networks. Organizations are still leaving poorly configured and outdated routers exposed to the internet.

In a joint cybersecurity advisory, the NSA, CISA, FBI, and international partners warn that hackers linked to Center 16 of Russia’s Federal Security Service are continuing to target vulnerable networking equipment. Energy, healthcare, and government networks are among the sectors facing the highest risk.

Read more