Jamie F
Abyss Creations, the company behind the RealDoll X sex robot range, has relocated from San Marcos, California to Las Vegas, Nevada following the success of the firm’s RealDoll X artificial intelligence-based (AI) system.
Founded in 1996, Abyss Creations became the most prominent sex robot manufacturer in the US, operated by CEO Matt McMullen from his California base. The company said that growth in online sales and Las Vegas’ entertainment-friendly business culture were factors in the decision to relocate in August 2021.
“Las Vegas was chosen as the destination for its well-known vibrant culture, combined with its unwavering acceptance of companies that operate ‘outside the norm’,” the company said.
Abyss Creations also cited the public’s “overwhelming response” to its RealDollX system, which combined a modular robotic doll head with an AI system, as a factor in the decision to expand manufacturing and corporate facilities. The RealDoll X system’s doll head can form expressions and speak to the user, and has customizable “personalities”.
The company, best known for its flagship ‘female’ model Harmony, was scheduled to complete the move to Las Vegas in late August 2021. It posted a series of photos from the new digs on the RealDoll Instagram page: @realdollofficial.
The new facilities will see the continuation of the development of a new ‘male’ RealDoll model named Henry.
In June 2021, McMullen said that he was working on Henry’s bionic penis. “We’re going to be working on some form of very epical insert for Henry, so that he’s able to lift trucks with his penis,” he joked.
While RealDoll sex robots look impressively life-like, they are far from the near-sentient humanoids that the media sometimes portrays sex robots to be. They do not have moving limbs, and conversations with them tend to be stilted at best.
“We’re already starting to animate the body,” McMullen said in June. “The problem is, when can a body be animated and then be safe to throw into someone’s bed? A robotic arm that’s strong enough to lift the entirety of its silicone weight is pretty darn strong, and if something goes a little bit off with that, it could take your head off.”
Speaking in July of the move to Nevada, he added: “In the end, the massive interest in our line of products and plans for the company’s future, combined with the entertainment and retail aspect of Las Vegas, opens new doors for the business and an opportunity too exciting to pass up.”
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