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Virtual Reality: Coming to a Porn Site Near You

Pornhub bets on the lure of free 360-degree porn.

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Porn watchers have been discreetly logging into Pornhub, one of the largest pornography site on the Internet, since 2007. While illicit photography and videos have become porn staples over the years, for viewers to directly connect to the on-camera action, they'd have to take matters into their own hands (pun intended). Or, at least, have a willing partner watching at the same time.

But what about viewers who want in on these sexcapades, but have no one with whom to do the deed? Aside from getting into porno themselves—highly unlikely—viewers now have a high-tech solution: virtual reality porn. Plus, it's free.

Pornhub, the 66th most visited site on the planet, has launched a new virtual reality section—the first adult entertainment website to give VR porn away for free. All you need? Your curiosity, interest—and a virtual reality headset. Pornhub even made that easier: The site gave away the first 10,000 pairs for free. (They're already gone.)

Partnering with BaDoinkVR, a leader in virtual porn, the push is for viewers to get as close to porn star experience, without actually doing the deed.

"Virtual reality is the next phase in the constantly metamorphosing world of adult entertainment, and will provide users with a mesmeric experience unlike anything they've seen before," says Corey Price, Pornhub's vice president. "Now, our users are not only able to view our content, but be protagonists in the experience and interact with their favorite porn stars."

Online porn has millions of eyes on it every day. Pornhub alone attracts 60 million daily visits—2.1 million every hour, according to its site. And the VR porn industry is expected to grow the audience as well, much the way the Internet transformed the print porn industry decades ago. The VR porn industry will surpass $1 billion in revenue by 2025, according to financial firm Piper Jaffray, cited by Pornhub. (So that's where all the money goes.)

So when you just can't lay hands on the real deal, Pornhub's selection of 180- and 360-degree VR footage may fill the need. For an even better, more realistic, in-your-face experience, users should view the videos through an Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR or a Google Cardboard headset and their iOS and Android smartphones. Now, instead of a general porn video that feels like basic TV (but still saucier than Scandal or The Shahs of Sunset), viewers will be able to look around their environment and feel they're right there with the actors. And just when you thought porn couldn't get any, well, pornier.

For those porn aficionados already bored of 2-D nudity and sex, Pornhub hopes that virtual reality has got something to really excite you (like, really). While youmay not look particularly sexy in your VR goggles, but the site believes your fave porn stars will be hotter than ever. When they start to be able to watch you watching them, that's when the reality will have gone too far.

Will you get real with VR porn? Not that you're going to tell us or anything.

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