Newest Sex Toy Designs with Jimmyjane's Ethan Imboden

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[Voiceover] The Adult Novelty Expo

is sort of a mini CES for sex toys.

It's part of AVN's annual porn industry convention in Vegas.

To get a grip on this market,

we went straight to designer, Ethan Imboden.

He founded the innovative, award-winning

sex product company, Jimmyjayne,

and is now head of venture design at Frog,

so he's kind of an expert.

We walked from booth to booth with Ethan

and he picked out the most interesting toys of the expo,

and gave us his take.

Design is an incredibly powerful tool for shaping

the products, environments and services around us.

When evaluating a product concept,

developers often focus on one,

is this a product that people will buy?

Two, is there a technology that we could leverage here

that will improve its performance?

But they often forget the third

and arguably most important question,

does it deliver a meaningful experience?

We'll be considering all three of these

when we look at products today.

This is the Ora 2 by Lelo.

This product is intended to simulate oral sex

with this nub which can move back and forth or rotate.

We've seen this nub sort of action before,

but I think it's implemented here really nicely

in a very compact design.

The main issue here is that this jack,

where you charge the product,

is a little bit too close to where the action's gonna happen

and I think that's problematic.

I think this is a product,

that despite a couple of drawbacks

will be successful for them

because it's an example of a technology

that's really in the service of superior experience.

This next product is from a brand called Svakom

and this is the Gaga.

It is a combination of one, a vibrator

and two, a camera.

So essentially, this is a vibrating endoscope.

I don't think that I am that interested

in endoscopy as sort of a bedroom sport.

This is really a technology-led idea,

perhaps a solution in search of a problem.

Many people begin exploring their sexuality

by masturbating in the tub or in the shower.

This product, called Bubble Love,

takes that to the next level.

Water is sucked up into this device here,

and ejected along with air here,

performing a bit of a water jet

that you can position within your tub.

This is something that people are familiar with,

but it makes that whole experience much more practical

than perhaps straddling a faucet.

On the technology side, I think it's actually pretty great.

The experience is where it really wins,

but I think where this can really excel

is with another design iteration

where it's really about you and your body

as opposed to, well, a bunch of attachments

and other accessories.

This is a product from njoy.

It's a stainless steel dildo.

Here's another product, this is a small anal plug.

This is solid steel and is made with incredible precision,

incredible craftsmanship, and represents

a very different approach to the market.

So, njoy lands in a sort of unique spot in our framework.

Technology isn't always necessary to make a winning product.

They're providing a great experience

for those in that niche, and the technology itself,

well, maybe that's just brand and quality.

The sex products industry has been isolated

by taboos for decades.

One of the most useful lessons that I took

from my time in this industry

was the importance of defining the experience first,

then employing design and technology as a means to that end,

rather than the other way around.

Design is an incredibly powerful tool, for shaping the...

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