Erotic fiction is kind of a big deal — especially when you consider that the film adaptation of 50 Shades of Grey raked in nearly $600 million at the box office. However, until now, there hasn’t really been a way to pair your guilty pleasure reads with … mm, your other guilty pleasures. French startup B.Sensory is looking to change that with the Little Bird, a smart vibrator designed to capitalize on the sultry narratives you likely house in a mislabeled box under the foot of your bed.
The Bird is an exercise in the fundamentals, whether you use it alone or with your partner. The sensory system includes an accompanying reading app for Android and iOS, each of which feature tailor-made content from a select number of publishers and amateur authors. French publishers such as J’ai Lu and Editions Paulette have already promised connected and standard versions of their stories for late-night consumption, with new material from Evangeline Anderson and M. Christian — an American author best known for blending sci-fi and horror with modern erotica — said to be on the way.
Once you’ve chosen a story, the companion app and silicon vibrator allow you to interact in several ways. You can shake or caress the device to trigger a set of vibrations chosen by the author, or if your fiction is particularly hot and heavy, you can simply breath on the screen to set things in motion. You can also stop or replay said vibrations at any point, just in case you truly can’t get enough of Léon de Griffes’ Divines Vibrations. The pairing process is all done via Bluetooth.
“Being a great fan of erotic literature, I had the desire to combine the power of words to the potential of connected devices by creating a new way of reading and having fun alone or in couple,” says B.Sensor founder Christel Le Coq in a recent video. The couple aspect isn’t the most revolutionary, but it does allow your partner to use your phone as a long-distance remote and switch between a total of 10 vibration settings. We can only assume that reading out loud is entirely optional, as is the quiet operation.
The Little Bird retails for $100 and is currently available for pre-order in one of three colors (lagoon blue, mojito green, and raspberry pink). Best of all, B.Sensory promises “discreet shipping” when it ships the device this spring. I guess Valentine’s Day is out of the question, huh?
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