new ways The to stray

INCOGNITO SEXTING

Forget deleting WhatsApp sext messages. Anyone with a smartphone can now download a free app like Viber, Signal or Telegram to cover their tracks. All three offer “self-destruct”style messages, photos and videos, which mean cheaters can cover their tracks and delete their nudes quicker than you can say “Gotcha”. Great.

LONG-DISTANCE EVERYTHING

Vibrators that can be controlled via a smartphone (like the We-Vibe Sync) are nothing new, but full-body haptic suits that let you “feel” a person’s touch remotely while you video-chat definitely are. For long-distance couples, this might be a helping hand (literally), but these technologies will also be gateways for online flirting to turn into something more.

HOOK-UP HOTELS

Renting a hotel room for a couple of hours is going to hit your bank balance and raise some eyebrows at the front desk. With sites like Daybreakhotels.com or apps such as Dayuse, however, you can snag a space to nap, take a shower or, you know, have a midday illicit shag for a more reasonable rate.

X-RATED VR VIDEOS

You might not consider it rule-breaking to watch porn, but what if you could simulate actually touching the actors you’re watching? That’s what companies like PrimaVR have been working on. According to one report, from this year users will be able to see their own bodies on screen as they get off with a porn star’s holographic or motion-capture image, feel vibrations via teledildonic sex toys, or see the actor’s body react to “touch”.

ADULTEROUS AVATARS

Like The Sims but hornier, online platforms like 3DXChat and Redlightcenter.com offer people the ability to create their own 3D avatars to interact with other users in X-rated online worlds. The graphics are already pretty realistic – and set to get better in as few as five years’ time, according to sex-tech expert Jenna Owisianik.