Well, kind of anyway. Introducing the Googlher, perhaps the first sexual-related personal “device” that uses Google search to help the user, um, enjoy themselves — to put it in safe-for-work terms. While the Googlher sex toy is not a purchasable item, there is an extended howto featuring a detailed, step-by-step walkthrough for making your own.
The device was brought to my attention by Katie Nolan in a video for Guyism, a website in the vein of Maxim magazine. From there, a Google search led us to the LezGetReal blog, which featured a write-up and a video of the toy in question. From their description:
The Googlher is, well, a web-based vibrator, if you want to put it that way. Just plug it into your USB port, and whenever you are using anything Google related so that their webservices bing your browser, well, it vibrates.
I have to wonder if the use of “bing,” instead of “ping” was a Freudian slip.
As for the toy, at first, the Googlher is presented as something that could be purchased, but as the web address embedded in the “instructional” video reveals, interested parties actually have to build the thing, which takes us directly to the ffff.at (Free Arts and Technology) website. Over at F.A.T., there’s actually an extensive how-to guide for those of you who would like to build your own Google-powered sex toy.
In fact, looking at the guide, it reads more like a computer case mod, but instead of modifying a computer case, you’re building a USB-powered case that plugs into your computer. From there, once Google’s web services ping your browser, the box sends a signal to the attached vibrator, causing it to, well, vibrate. In F.A.T.’s guide, a Silver Bullet Vibrator (SWF link) is used as the output device.
The howto even features a schematic for the internal mechanism that makes the thing work as advertised:
So yeah, the Googlher is clearly serious business, although, one wonders how the people at Mountain View will react to such a device. Considering it’s not being sold to the public, Google’s only gripe would be the use of the Google logo in the Googlher sticker. Again, this too is not being sold, but they do make use of the Google logo. Here’s a blurred version of the sticker in question. If you’d like to see the unedited version, click the previous link or the blurred image:
And here’s what the finished product looks like:
Of course, knowing your way around circuit boards, USB dongles and start-from-scratch case modifications are necessary skills if you want to make one for yourself, or a lonely friend. As indicated, there’s a video included, and while the visuals are fairly safe for work, at least until the last 20 or so seconds, the audio definitely isn’t. Unless you feel like explaining the moaning sound coming from your computer.
If you’re at work, watch this video at your own risk:
Say what you will, but it’s hard to argue against the ingenuity involved in creating such a toy.
