Google Trends is currently reporting that the search term “VR porn” has risen exponentially in usage since 2015 and is currently at the absolute peak of its popularity.
Provocative depictions of both the male and female form can be found wherever mankind has had the opportunity to create. Ancient cave art, renaissance paintings, and – especially – modern technological marvels like the Internet are all brimming with instances of pornography. It is safe to say that whenever a new form of media is created, society instantly becomes very interested in using that new tech to look at other people naked. According to Google, this phenomenon is once again proving true when it comes to virtual reality.
The above chart is a real time visualization of search term popularity provided through Google Trends. The term in question is “VR Porn” and, as you can see, it is experiencing something of an explosion in popularity.
The way that a Google Trends chart works is that it depicts the relative prevalence of a term at any given moment, not the actual number of times it has been searched. This means that the number you see when you mouse over certain parts of the chart is an indicator of how popular the term was at that point in time when compared to its period of greatest use.
What this chart is communicating, therefore, is that the world at large has never been more interested in virtual reality pornography than it is in April of 2016.
The breakdown of the data is fascinating as well. The number one term searched in conjunction with VR porn is “free” and the number one headset associated with this search is the Samsung Gear VR. Also, the majority of the searches are coming from Norway, with the United States displaying the least interest of any country to search heavily for the term.
The most telling observation, however, comes when this chart is compared to other Google Trends visualizations.
Look familiar? This is Google’s popularity depiction for the search term “HTC Vive.” As you can clearly see, it is almost identical to the VR porn chart. It would seem that as the world’s interest in VR hardware increases, so too does its interest in using that hardware to engage in pornographic activities.
What the more cynical of you will be yelling at your screens at this point is “DUH!”
That is a fair sentiment, this is less of a revelation and more of a confirmation in what many would consider to be one of the most obvious use cases for VR hardware going forward. Making searches in Google Trends for terms such as “VR games” or “VR movies” will also bring up charts revealing terms that are at the very height of their lifetime popularity.
The difference, however, is that VR games, movies and other types of content all have the gold seal of approval from the headset manufacturers. VR porn does not.
Oculus head of platform Jason Rubin has even gone on record as saying that pornographic content will be specifically barred from entering the Oculus platform. HTC and Sony have yet to make similar definitive statements about their own distribution channels, but one can merely look at their existing stable of content to confirm that anything truly X rated will be prohibited.
The picture that these charts and corporate stances all work together to paint is one in which VR porn is one of the most popular, and least officially supported, types of content available to consumers.
The question therefore becomes: who or what will rise to take control of this vacuum? Who will be the first to crown this red-light ridden king and become master of all the power, and profits, that he commands?
