I Agree. The organizers should be ashamed and should publicly apologize. This is NOT acceptable and shouldn't be tolerated in our society. The prize should be taken back from the participants and be given to a men sexually abused charity.
err, just kidding, I thought it was pretty damn cool and a very nice hack.
sorry but this is not like titstare, not even a little bit. maybe you are just grouping all NSFW hackathon projects superficially into the same category? titstare is an app that makes it easier for men to objectify women in an unwanted way. what we created is a device that makes it easier for couples to enjoy each other consensually, even in long distance relationships.
Their initial pitch started along the lines of "where else can we present this appropriately other than an all adult female hardware hackathon" and the conversation was fairly technical, and mature. I was skeptical at first as well, thinking "hello double standards."
This is a great hack if only to illustrate that EEG devices are consumer friendly enough to be integrated into a variety of products.
About the only company in this space that makes super high end intimate products is LELO. The rest of market is served by low end items shipped from China.
When they prep for production they should send a sample to Oh Joy Sex Toy -- ohjoysextoy.com -- where they've been complaining about the lack of a sex toy that can read your mind for quite a while now.
I wonder how it evens out spikes in the readings. I can't speak for others. But as a male who is interested in this toy, I'm curious how it would filter out the signals I use in my, not sure what the proper word be. Anal muscles? Anyway, since I would be concentrating on contracting them, I'm not sure how the toy would interpret it.
the device uses brainwaves as input, and the vibrator is only an output. it doesn't know what kind of pressure you are putting on the vibrator itself, although adding a sensor to do that would be interesting to have as well.
the partner control thing is interesting, but it will be more interesting when you have 2 of them operating synchronously with some sort of feedback loop...
actually this is the reason we built it. the reality is that if two male hackers had come up with this project, it would probably have been received differently, sure. but that's all the more reason for two women who feel comfortable building this device, to build it. I mean, no one else was building it. so now it exists! and no, I really think it's no more crass than the idea of a vibrator itself. also, don't you think focus is sexy? I do.
