Jamie F
A one meter-long huggable device billed by its creators as the “world’s first disability-driven sex toy” is not going to make it to full production and distribution stage, despite years of development and promotion.
The Bump’n Joystick device is soft and huggable, and rather than being a sextech device itself is designed to have sex toys attached to it. The idea is that it makes sex toys easier to use for people who may not be able to use their hands for certain functions. It was designed by the Australian company Bump’n, helmed by brother-sister team Andrew Gurza and Heather Morrison.
The Bump’n Joystick was supposed to be available in 2022, priced at AUS $249 (US $165). On May 5, 2024 Bump’n announced that the Bump’n Joystick had reached golden sample stage, meaning a product sample stage smaller than full production. The company added that it was “not able to move the product to full-production”.
The announcement seems to mark the end of the line for the Bump’n Joystick project, although the company made a callout for any investors who may be interested in salvaging it to take it through to production.
“As we reflect [on] this incredible journey, we are filled with immense pride. With your support, we’ve smashed taboos, sparked conversations, published a book, created a world first sex aid and made real change in the world,” Bump’n said:.
While the Bump’n Joystick’s failure to fully launch could be seen as a blow for accessibility in the sextech industry, the product’s development helped start conversations about the issue.
“Inclusivity is a buzzword a lot of industry people are trying to get in on. I understand why. But a lot of them aren’t doing the work in terms of talking to the disabled community, doing testing with disabled community members, and saying to them, ‘What works for you?’” Gurza told SEXTECHGUIDE in 2022.
Gurza added: “They all want to be inclusive, and that’s great, but they have to do so much more work in actually connecting with that community to find out what is actually viable, and what accessibility actually looks like.”
The disability activist has limited hand use, and channeled this to help design the Bump’n Joystick. Gurza also talked about issues the company had converting general interest to hard sales.
“The community is excited but it has been slow going,” Gurza said in the 2022 interview. “We need to sell 500 for the toy to go. There’s a lot of, ‘Ooh, this is cool’. It’s a new product, it’s geared towards disabled bodies, so that’s a whole other conversation that people are not quite ready to have.”
Bump’n wasn’t the only Australian company working on more accessible sextech-related devices. A firm named Luddi has released the Ziggy, which is a hands-free vibrating device. Luddi said “the disabled population is widely being ignored” with regards to sexual pleasure and access to sextech.
In the May 5 announcement, Bump’n said: “Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being part of this journey. It’s been an absolute honor.”
We’ve contacted the company for more information about the decisions to not take the product through to full production and will update here when we hear back.
