What's Your Pleasure?

Spring 2021
Product Design // PHYSICAL COMPUTING // Fabrication // Game DEV // Web Dev

WHAT’S YOUR PLEASURE?

What’s Your Pleasure? is a a toolkit that allows women to explore and create their own paths to pleasure by building a technological sensual gadget. 

Sexuality and technology are two realms in which women have been told were not made for them; that we don’t belong in and cannot own. Through the research and building of my own interactive pleasure object, I acquired an overwhelming sense of empowerment, as a maker and a woman. I want to share this sense of empowerment by providing an accessible toolkit for women to cultivate power and ownership of their individual sexuality and pleasure, through the reinforcement of technological capabilities. My hope is to instill feminine confidence by crushing the shame and insecurities that have been conditioned to women in our patriarchal society.

The experience comes in two formats, including a physical toolbox and a website.

The toolbox consists of several components, which includes a handle for the gadget, different tactile attachments, a control box, and different input components for the user to pick and choose to their liking.

There are three different tactile attachments, including a vibrating silicone, a rotating silicone, and a feather tickler.

The vibrating attachment is made of soft silicone with a waterproof vibrating motor inside that is controlled by a motor driver with various vibration effects.

The rotating attachment is made of soft silicone that is shaped like a flower, creating a concave shape that is perfect for using on body parts like the nipple. The rotation rhythm and speed can be altered with the controller.

The feather tickler is meant to be used on whatever body part you want to tickle, for a soft sensation that turns you on.

The user is given a variety of input controls to choose from, for more aesthetic options. Each input is color-coded by their different functions. Users can change up input combinations that suit their style preferences.

As for the online experience at www.whatsyourpleasure.co, the website has three main navigations, including:

• A build guide for the gadget

• An erotic terminology section

• A mini game to help guide the user on how to use the gadget on their bodies

The Build Guide includes drawings of each component in the box along with their description, and a diagram showing how to put them together.

The Erotic Dictionary has over 150 words and definitions relating to sexuality, with slangs included. I want this section to help educate and encourage users to explore new ideas.

The Erotic Roadmap is a game meant to be a fun way for users to learn more about the different erogenous zones on their bodies. The goal is to follow the digital body’s instructions to help it reach the ultimate level of pleasure. The three stimulant options are reflective of the attachments in the toolbox, giving users ideas on how to use their physical gadgets.

The goal of this experience is to instill more feminine assertion, confidence, and ownership in women’s sexual activities. I also want it to be a way to remind women that sexual pleasure is not just about having an orgasm, but rather about indulging in the the different senses and feelings available to us.

IDEATION

It started last semester, when I created a sensual gadget for myself as an experiment for my research on feminine pleasure. I wanted to create something that would foster more open conversations about pleasure & sex amongst women, and created a device called the Tittylator. I tested it with around 10 female classmates. The main realization from the playtests was that everyone had such varying preferences when it came to pleasure. I wasn’t going to be able to make a single tool that satisfies every woman, which is how the idea of a DIY toolkit came to be.

Mood boards

I first gathered all kinds of references and inspirations and created mood boards for product design and branding. I wanted this project to encourage exploration without being too intimidating, so I gravitated towards welcoming colors and cartoon aesthetics.

Initial Sketches

Then I listed out different kinds of sensations people liked, and sketched out output devices that would create those sensations. I imaged an input control that resembled legos, allowing the user to mix and match different kinds of inputs to control their device.

PROTOTYPING

LOW-FIDELITY PROTOTYPE

I created my first visualization of the toolkit with toys and textured materials. This process gave me clarity on scale and the kinds of components I need to figure out and eventually build.

MOTOR EXPLORATION

I started exploring various kinds of motors to create the sensations I was looking for. I took apart a few cheap sex toys to see what was being used, and ultimately went with a capsule DC vibrating motor, because it was strong, small and waterproof.

OUTPUT ELECTRONICS

For the rotating silicone attachment, I used a stepper motor and 3D printed a base that would attach to the silicone. For the feather tickler, I 3D printed my own pieces and coiled up a custom magnetic actuator. To control everything, I am using an Arduino and a haptic motor driver that comes with a library of over a hundred different effects.

Silicone Casting Experiments

Then, I started experimenting with different kinds of silicones, colors, and molds. I tried casting in ice maker molds, which turned out looking really nice, but there weren’t many shapes and sizes to choose from. Casting silicone in a silicone mold did not work out at all, because even with a release agent, the new silicone that gets poured just merges with the mold.

PRODUCTION

3D Modeling & Printing

I eventually decided to 3D model my own molds in Rhino and printed them. I was able to create the exact shapes and sizes I wanted.

SILICONE

After each print, I would test it out with a silicone mix. I went through a few rounds before getting the exact color and texture that I wanted for each piece. I also poured silicone to make button caps for my inputs.

Control Box

For the control box, I measured the components that were supposed to go inside before 3D modelling and printing. Once all the inputs were finalized with their silicone caps, I spray painted them to their functional colors.

Website Design & Development

For the website, I wanted the experience to be playful and approachable, so I went with a retro desktop game aesthetic, with custom pixel art icons. I designed the elements and pages on Figma, and coded and deployed the website through codesandbox.io.

Game Design & Development

I wanted the website to be a place people can go to have fun, while also gaining information about pleasure. I thought of ways to tie the gaming experience to the toolkit, to give the users a holistic experience both online and offline. I looked up classic game UI’s to gain inspiration, and landed on a few favorite navigational pages from games I played as a child. I thought these pages were so interesting because they’re essentially interactive maps that tell a story and provide fun challenges for the players along the way.

This eventually led me to think, what if I made my own body a navigational map? There are so many parts to explore, in so many different ways, each part providing different sensations and experiences. I envisioned a game where the female body is in control, telling the player which part of her body to stimulate and how. I added the stimulation tools from the What’s Your Pleasure? physical toolkit into the game, to teach users about their bodies and the tools they have at the same tiem. I created my own game assets and developed it in Unity.

PLAYTESTING

I playtested this experience with 5 playtesters. People responded very well to the toolkit format with attachment options for them to experiment with. They also think the online game idea is a great way to educate them on how to explore. For future versions, they mentioned wanting to see more personalization, attachment options and different kinds of curated toolkits.

LEARNINGS

I was able to incorporate a lot of what I learned throughout my 2 years at ITP into this project. But the main legacy I’m taking away from this experience is the courage to build something that makes me happy, something that I care about, and something that could make change for the better. Learning new skills and building something on your own is not easy, but ITP has equipped me with the motivation and passion to keep going.

I also had the opportunity to submit this project to the NYU Entrepreneur Bootcamp, and learned about market research and product/market fit.

With all these learnings, my next step is to figure out my target market for this product by talking to more segments of women, including transgender women, teenagers, and women with disabilities. I would like to iterate and develop more tactile sensations that are really satisfying, and create sturdier prototypes to continue testing. I will also continue to develop the online experience, and work on forming an online community to foster more conversations and learning.

Ultimately, I will be carrying on my goal of promoting female sexual knowledge, confidence and exploration.

CREDITS