RealDoll: US firm developing sex doll that can talk back

Items will cost up to $60,000

A sex doll from the RealDoll company (RealDoll)

It’s a question that one should think about a little bit before answering.

But if you could programme a sex doll to talk, what would you have it say?

Such are the issues currently being pondered by Matt McMullen, the creator of RealDoll sex toys, who is currently working on a sex doll that can blink, open its mouth and talk.

A report in the New York Times said people were already pay up to $10,000 for his dolls and can specify body type and skin and hair colour.

Now the team at his factory in Marcos, California, is working to animate the doll. As part of the project, he has assembled a small team that includes engineers who have worked for Hanson Robotics, a robotics lab that produces lifelike humanoid robots.

Mr McMullen said the team was working to develop the doll’s personality, and showed the example of a seemingly talking doll called Harmony.

“What is she thinking, does she like it?” Mr McMullen said of his effort to create the illusion of reality.

“If you can create that, or the illusion of that, it is going to be a much more impressive pay-off than ‘Wow, she can gyrate her hips by herself’.”

He told the newspaper that Realbotix head, which can be attached to the existing RealDoll body, will cost around $10,000, and be commercially available in two years.

The full body, which he will begin developing next, will most likely range from $30,000 to $60,000.