‘Fitbit’ for the clit being designed to monitor your state of arousal
Smartwatches. Fitbits. Blood sugar monitors. VR headsets. Wearable tech is big right now, and it’s only going to get bigger.
It’s also moving. Down there.
Yes, tech is getting up close and personal with a wearable tracker for the clitoris – a ‘Clitbit’, you might say, although this one is no relation to the one your aunt wears to measure her steps.
Well, wearables have long been up close and personal for men – forget smart rings, smart cock rings have been around for years. Want to last longer? Try a Bluetooth perineum patch.
But as seen throughout history, female pleasure has come second.
Now, urologist and sexual medicine doctor Ashley Winter is putting a fix to that with her new gadget.
‘In recent years, there’s been people talking about the anatomy of the clitoris, and wearing clitoris necklaces, and clitoris art,’ she said, speaking to 404 Media.
‘And that’s great, but if we don’t couple that with better understanding from a medical side, and attention from research scientists and the technology side, what is the point?’
Dr Winter has teamed up with FirmTech, a company well-versed in sextech thanks to its gadgets for men, to develop the tracker – provisionally called the ClitTrak. (It feels like Clitbit trips off the tongue easier though).
Naming aside, the aim of the device is to measure blood flow to the clitoris. More blood flow and a stronger pulse equals more arousal.
Here comes the science bit.
The ClitTrak uses a photoplethysmography pulse sensor to detect those changes to rate and volume of blood flow, embedded in a small pad that rests on the clitoris. This is attached to a small ‘egg’ with the on/off switch which is inserted into the vagina. A mock-up of the consumer device suggests the ‘egg’ may also measure temperature and pelvic muscle contractions.
Dr Winter and her team tested the device on 20 women, who were asked to wear it while engaging in increasingly arousing activities, from the non-erotic – watching Minions – to masturbating.
The data from the tracker then showed how aroused they became, based on the increase in blood flow.
What isn’t immediately clear however is how this information can be used, but that isn’t the fault of the device. As with so many areas of women’s health, the causes and effects of female arousal is pretty much unknown compared to the amount of research focused on men’s sexual health and erectile dysfunction.
‘We can’t even begin to think of all the stuff you could do with having any sort of quantitative insight on clitoral erectile function, because nobody’s ever done it,’ said Dr Winter.
‘Which is wild, right? I mean, we’re in the age where you can see your EKG, your sweat content, your continuous blood glucose. Every f***ing thing, there’s like a wearable device for it.’
Dr Winter, who presented the study at a meeting for the Sexual Medicine Society, hopes the ClitTrack will help people understand what turns them on, whether alone or with a partner.
‘We’ve just kind of been ignoring it because people think it’s too hard to figure out how to put a sensor on it. Which is like… that’s kind of a bulls*** excuse, right?’ she said. ‘Nobody’s putting in the effort.
‘It isn’t that hard.’
MORE : Lovely: Someone’s invented a Fitbit for your sex life that tracks performance and gives handy tips
MORE : Wearable technology now includes a ‘perineum patch’ for men with premature ejaculation
MORE : World’s first ‘smart condom’ collects intimate data during sex