Ela Darling-Political Activist, Feminist, and the face of Adult VR.

She has a Masters degree, she is the co-founder of a start-up, she plays Pokemon Go,and she drinks Soylent. Just your average modern day Face of Adult Virtual Reality. Ela Darling has taken the tech world by storm and in my opinion has become a Nina Hartley like figure for sex work in todays tech environment. 

Like Hartley, Ela Darling promotes the spread of positive information and education to help break through the sea of judgement and the lack of understanding of what people in the adult industry really deal with.

If you are not familiar with her, Ela Darling is the world’s first Virtual Reality cam girl and a pioneer of VR in the adult industry. She is the co-founder of VRTube.xxx as well as the face of Virtual Reality for Cam4. She has helped to grow VR live cams around the world and in turn helped performers around the world also understand how to monetize their work. 

Content Source: Cam4 http://www.cam4.com/vr

Just about 7 years ago Ela did her first hardcore porn scene right at the Kink.com facilities and just recently she was there to promote VR adult content. We got the chance to interview her about VR adult content. Check out Part 1

Here are some excerpts from Part 1

CatsAndVR- How did you become the face of Cam4 VR?

Ela Darling- I started doing VR adult content a little over 2 1/2 years ago. I did everything that I could do at the intersection of VR and Porn. 3d, 360* videos, and holographic content. We took that technology and created a dating simulator. You could date me in Virtual Reality. I am kind of a tough date. We realized that is great but it would be even better to date a live person in Virtual Reality. My business partner and I then created the first ever live VR web cam platform. 

Part 2 of the interview addresses some serious issues that performers in the adult industry have to deal with. California Condoms in Pornographic Films Initiative, Proposition 60.

"So many people want to make it a discussion about condoms and it's not. Thats not even the conversation at hand. The real conversation is that it puts our private information in the hands of the people that hate us the most or are so fanatical they will stop at nothing to gain access to us" Hear more about Ela's thought on the current battle adult stars are currently facing in part 2.

Ela continues to not only be an innovator in live 360° streaming and adult VR content but also showcasing that the adult industry has continued to be on the forefront of tech innovation and free speech.  I told Ela that it was great to see her at events such as SVVR where she was a guest speaker and shown as not just a Pornstar but also a tech innovator. Her response was that she in no way wants to distance herself from her identity as a Pornstar and embraces that. A figure helping to push both innovation and adult entertainment, Ela Darling in my opinion is the the face of Adult VR content. 

Ela Darling is currently serving her second year on the board of directors for the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee and is on the committee for the Performer Availability Scheduling Service.

#VOTENO on #PROP60

https://vrtube.xxx/

Cats And VR

CatsAndVR.com sat down with Ian Paul-CIO of Naughty America to discuss the future of VR & Adult Content.

Recently CatsAndVR.com had the opportunity to discuss VR with the CIO of Naughty America Ian Paul. Over some great beers and some rad 90's punk rock we found out we both had a mutual liking of the band Throbbing Gristle. We also decide to talk about how the adult industry just as it did with home video, DVD, and the internet, is helping to innovate the VR industry. I have decided to create some industry acronyms and will be using NA to refer to Naughty America, VRP for Virtual Reality Porn, and VR for Virtual Reality. Now to the interview. 

Disclaimer: This blog post is rated MA for mature audiences and is full of some great insights into both VR and adult content. There is no nudity on this page because people still have issues with sexual expression. Go figure.

Me: What Is bringing NA into VR and how long have you been thinking about it?

Ian: I think we all have been fantasizing about VR over drinks since the 80's and 90's. Every few years a film would come out glamorizing it. The 90's had a whole tech movement around it that fizzled due to the tech not being there yet as well as the expenses involved. When NA got their hands on an Oculus dev kit, suddenly the fantasy was within reach. VR was handed to us on a silver platter, we locked ourselves in a room, got as much equipment as we could, and spent the time figuring how can we do this.

We figured it out and published our first scene in July of 2015! 

We now have around 40 scenes!

We support Gear VR! We support Rift! We support every device out there!

Me: Why 180° videos over 360° videos?

Ian: Who wants to turn their neck around while watching porn?

Me: I Do and I think I could make some very visually interesting stuff.

Me: What is the difference between NA vs any other VRP provider? Lets say Pornhub. Cause you know people like VS. comparisons. I blame Street Fighter.

Ian: We get thousands of sign ups every day from a class of consumers that is different from Pornhub's. Our customers are the ultimate fan, they want to make sure they are supporting the performers that are enriching their lives. The ads on tube sites do not go back to the performer. With NA you are getting a high quality product that looks good on a 4K TV, a VR headset, and a mobile device. Plus you are giving back to the performers. Pornhub is sort of the default setting for people looking for adult content. Naughty America is looking to bring adult content out of the small box in your browser.

Me: How are the performers reaction to VR porn?

Ian: All of the performers we work with are ecstatic by VR. When you show them their own scenes they get to see how much the VR experience shows off their body in ways 2D just can't. They end up being enamored by it. Most of the performers are clamoring to get a VR scene done. We are looking to see how we can develop the methods to accommodate them.

Me: Will the AVN's have a VR award for their next show?

Ian: They should have had one this year! The show this year had VR everywhere, just not the awards.

Me: What techniques and innovations is NA bringing to the VRP world?

Ian: We were very conservative in our first videos and now that we have an understanding of the product we want to try some new things. We just put out Randy's Roadstop, this is our first experience in seeing if the avatar you are talks does it break the immersive experience. We want to see if this adds or detracts from the experience. The next step is seeing how we can bring 3rd person perspectives into it. 

The big innovation is here already with VR! Now it is down to who will take the creative and artistic challenge to push the medium to the best of it's ability. We want to constantly be innovating on shooting and delivering the content.

In reality VR brings us to a future retro situation. It brings us to almost a 70's era where the technicality, the execution, and the story suddenly become very important. You are not watching some amateur content in a 2x2 box, instead it is immersive and capturing you.

Me: I agree. I watched the Santa Claus scene and though I have seen something like this is 2D, it created a very different feeling and I had to giggle. Things that have been done before some how feel like they have not.

Ian then proceed to show me an assortment of VR adult content that Naughty America has available. One of the things that was very interesting was watching VR from the women's perspective. I have to say that was an experience I will never forget and opens up a lot of questions.

Me: How do you feel about VR's potential to humanize porn and create a more intimate perspective. (Disclaimer: CatsAndVR nor Ian look at the current state of adult content as inhumane, this just questions a perspective shift that could potentially be created towards the industry)

Ian: Look when your business model is based on people looking at your ads you are gonna try to produce the most extreme, attention getting content to get clicks on those ads. Content that might have a sensual erotic context is just not going to get the clicks on the ads.

With VR you see that the intimacy is very apparent, you feel the intimacy that you don't feel when you look at a little 2x2 screen. This is going to affect the nature of the content. It is very easy to depersonalize performers when you watch them abstractly. When you are viscerally felling a VR experience you may not be ready for the same things that you are for on a tube site. It may change what types of content you may want. 

Founder Of CatsAndVR.com with sex positive feminist, performer, director, author, and inspiration Nina Hartley.

While developing our own content we asked women how they felt while watching the women's perspective scene. Some of the feedback we received were woman wanting to make sure the performer was actually in pleasure during the scene. Being able to convey that feeling through VR content is something we are striving to create. We are taking into consideration feedback from all members of our community as we work on creating a real intimate and visceral VR experience. 

Me: I want to thank you for your time Ian. If anyone wants more information on Naughty America's VR offerings:  http://www.vrandcats.com/naughtyamerica/