Jamie F
A new vibrating sextech device designed for people with disabilities has been launched by a company called Luddi based in Perth, Australia. Launching the Ziggy, the makers said that “the disabled population is widely being ignored” with regards to sexual pleasure and access to sextech.
Luddi was founded by Robert Duff-Silsby plus Zachary and Jasmine Nielsen, who together launched the Ziggy in November 2022. The orange silicone vibrating device is foldable, with the makers advising: “Hump it, rub on it, tuck it into your harness or underwear, stroke your penis, or put it between two bodies.”
It’s billed as “the world’s first sex toy for all bodies”, and it sometimes can look a bit like a croissant when it’s folded up.
Indeed, the Ziggy’s flexibility, and ability to be bent into different shapes, allows it to be used by a variety of body styles, and it is designed to be able to be used without much hand control. Thoughtful touches like the device coming in easy-to-unwrap packaging and having braille on its buttons give even more inclusivity points.
It has eight different vibration settings, can be used for up to 70 minutes between charges, and sells for AUS $295 (currently around $200 USD), placing it at the more premium end of the sextech market. Being billed as for health and wellness as well as pleasure, Luddi said that some people in Australia can buy the device with their NDIS assistive technology budget: a government budget for technology helping individuals with disabilities.
While many modern sextech devices are billed as inclusive across body types, gender, sexuality and other factors, there aren’t many companies dedicated to making them for people with disabilities. Another firm that does so alongside Luddi, and that also has Aussie roots, is Bump’n: a startup that makes a huggable device called the Bump’n Joystick.
Between them, Luddi’s three founders have backgrounds in psychology, physiotherapy and product design. Jasmine Nielsen, one of the three, told Perth Now that “a lot of people see any products for people with disability as an aid rather than a lifestyle product, which a lot of abled-bodies have the pleasure of having unlimited choice and access to.”
“So we definitely saw an opportunity not only to create a product that was accessible and usable for all bodies but something that actually looked and felt good as well,” she added.
The Ziggy isn’t all too different in shape and intention than to devices like the Enby, a non-gendered vibrator that looks suspiciously like a bike seat (or even at a push, the Lovense Gush or Hot Octopus’ Pule Solo Interactive for people with a penis).
Read next: Huggable Bump’n Joystick is a gender-neutral ‘disability-driven sex toy’
