The pornography industry has evolved over the year but since the COVID-19 pandemic struck, viewership has been on the rise, reaching an all-time high. Remote working has become the order of the day leading to very blurred lines between work and play.

Porn sites are witnessing increased traffic, especially during the pandemic, with the world’s largest adult website reporting a 24 per cent increase in daily traffic when compared to ‘normal’ days.  In many countries, these traffic spikes continue to rise due to social distancing measures and the need to self-isolate. Research shows that porn consumption is highest when people are bored or feel stressed and with many people feeling stuck indoors, that explains the current trend.

However, the need for physical and emotional connection has led to an increase in VR porn. Its sudden popularity can be attributed to several other things outside just satisfying their sexual needs. For one, it gave users freedom in a time where many countries around the world placed strict isolation rules—with essential services being the only exception.

Lots of people struggled to adapt to the lockdown measure and this led to many feeling quite agitated and depress due to their inability to live their lives the way they want to. In a recent poll conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, it was discovered that the coronavirus pandemic had an impact on the mental health of almost half of the American population. Therefore, porn became a necessary escape from the frustrations that were already building up.

With VR porn, people can still simulate going outside and enjoying the outdoor experience and for those who are new to virtual reality, you may not be prepared for how realistic it can feel. By using a VR headset, you can immerse yourself into any location and simulate either taking a stroll down the street, visiting a stylish hotel, or just sitting at a fancy restaurant. The sexual part of VR porn becomes an added incentive to not feeling trapped in your house.

For many in long-distance relationships who were unable to visit their partners due to travel bans, the urge for physical intimacy grew further. While many things can make you feel closer to your partner like frequent video calls, VR porn has covered the aspect of sexual intimacy. Couples can easily call each other during online date nights and enter the virtual world simultaneously. They can both engage in a lot of sexual activities separately or with their favourite characters—and in the future, there might be room for people to even create digital copies of themselves.

VR porn goes beyond just sexual pleasures. During the pandemic, many people tried it out to escape loneliness and experience what it feels like to have a partner who just shows them attention and care. Nonetheless, the lockdown caused many to try out new hobbies, recipes and basically experiment with a lot of things they had always wanted to do but never found the time to do them. Finding and exploring new fantasies wasn’t left out as people explored their sexuality.

“We found that for most people the potential of a VR porn experience opened the doors to an apparently ‘perfect’ sexual experience – a scenario which in the real world no-one could live up to,” said Matthew Wood, a researcher at Newcastle University in a report.

“For others, it meant pushing the boundaries, often with highly explicit and violent imagery, and we know from current research into pornography that exposure to this content has the potential to become addictive and more extreme over time,” he added.

The idea of trying out anything considered a taboo in the bedroom, whether a threesome, BDSM or gang bang, can be exciting for many, but due to the lack of confidence or fear of backlash, we never try them out. With VR porn, you can safely explore all these fantasies right in the comfort of your home. All you just need to do is select the right VR porn movie and act out whichever scenario tickles your fancy without the fear of being judged.

Despite still being in its early stages with some limitations, more people would continue to embrace VR technology post-COVID-19 and the experience would only get better and more realistic.