Mind the orgasm gap
Lora Haddock figured her company might be controversial in some circles. After all, she was starting a woman-oriented pleasure-tech brand and designing a sex toy that stimulated the clitoris and vagina simultaneously, without needing an actual hand to help hold it in place.
But Haddock felt confident the tech world was ready for a product that was part robot, part vibrator and all about female sexual pleasure. The Osé (pronounced oh-SAY) that this whiz designed as the head of her company, Lora DiCarlo, had 52 complex engineering requirements, plus a slew of patents pending before it hit the market. She knew the Osé was something special – and groundbreaking – because it used the latest technology to give women what they actually want.
The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) thought so too, notifying Haddock last year that it would be awarding the Osé its 2019 Robotics and Drones Innovation Award. But, before the ink had dried, the CES revoked the award. In a letter this game-changer shared with, CES quoted terms buried deep in the small print: “Entries deemed by CTA [Consumer Technology Association, the organisation behind the annual CES] in their sole discretion to be immoral, obscene, indecent, profane, or not in keeping with CTA’s image will be disqualified.” Never mind that current and past exhibitors had demoed augmented reality porn and a robot sex doll that can give blow jobs.
