Lovehoney Group creates pop-up space in metaverse for sexual explorations

Global sexual wellness company Lovehoney Group has launched a sexual wellness pop-up space in the metaverse Decentraland in July this year, offering a safe and private space for consumers to explore sexual wellness products and sexuality-related content.

With the increased awareness of the metaverse, Lovehoney’s new launch aims to offer easier accessibility for audiences that may have shied away from technology via Decentraland, a metaverse that can be entered with any computer without the need for extra equipment. Furthermore, the virtual space offers a private environment for people to explore sexual wellness products and content around the topic of sexuality.

The space spans four floors and offers a full, immersive brand and product experience, educational videos, workshops, a dance floor and an erotic NFT art exhibition and auction, it is open until 31 July 2022 and can be entered via any browser with any computers.

On the ground floor, the Lovehoney Group’s shop is a place where visitors can browse the brand’s bestsellers and even purchase them by being forwarded to the online shop. The “Lovehoney Group Lessons” area on the second floor offers a place to kick back, relax and watch integrated, educational videos from the brand’s global expert panel. Up on the third floor, visitors will find an art gallery where they can enjoy and bid on a range of erotic art from popular and new NFT artists via OpenSea. All proceeds will go back to the artists themselves. And finally, the rooftop club will be playing music all day and night.

Betty the Bee, Lovehoney Group’s own security avatar, will also greet visitors at the front door with information on how they can report inappropriate behaviour and block anyone who is making them feel uncomfortable. By clicking on the other person’s avatar, users can easily select the block function, and by pressing the ‘E’ key on their keyboards, they will be moved to a random area of the Lovehoney Group store. All consumers will also be asked their age upon entering the experience to ensure they are over 18 years old.

Johanna Rief, head of sexual empowerment at Lovehoney Group, said: “Even though we’ve made progress over the last twenty years, when it comes to sexuality and the way we treat the topic in society, there is still a long way to go. In a World where ‘Big Tech’ is silencing sexual wellness brands, with regulations on Instagram and Google becoming more and more tight, it’s exciting for us to launch an experience like this pop-up space.”

“We put a lot of capacities and budget into our R&D efforts. We see ourselves as a (Sex)Tech company and have always been forward-thinking and keeping an eye on technological trends. Therefore, we were curious and the Metaverse store was close and a logical step,” Rief added.

Bryony Cole, Lovehoney Group’s global sextech expert, comments: “The Metaverse allows us to immerse ourselves in digital content rather than feeling like a separate viewer. People naturally look at entertainment as the only possibility for sextech, but there is also a great potential for sex education, sexual happiness and sexual health support in the Metaverse. Plus, the combined anonymity and intimacy of this platform, allows people to engage with this topic further, where they perhaps don’t feel comfortable in real life, allowing more people to educate.”

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