In 2019, engineer Lucas Hartman was struck with inventive inspiration. He envisioned a device that allowed people with external erectile genitalia to achieve hands-free orgasm. It wouldn’t be electronically powered. Instead, he set out to develop a product that relied on the mechanics of the wearer’s natural body movements to create erotic sensations.
After designing and testing multiple prototypes, Exo was born. Part harness and part stroker, it straps around the waist and sports a plastic abdominal plate. This plate secures a medical-grade TPE sleeve near the genitals that the wearer penetrates with each thrust of their pelvis. It’s also highly adjustable, adapting to a wide range of body sizes, penis sizes, and sleeve widths. As described by Hartman, “It enables you to be stimulated during intercourse without using your hands and in a way that feels natural to you and is in sync with your body movements.”
The fundamental motivation for the toy is helping people experience pleasure that’s validating for their gender identity.
What’s most revolutionary about Exo is the community it serves. Society has become increasingly accepting of LGBTQIA+ sexual expression; however, the pleasure products industry hasn’t caught up with that trend. The vast majority of toys are made for straight cisgender people, leaving others with few options. Individuals with non-normative sexual or gender orientation often have no choice but to make do with mainstream products. Not only does this require users to devise creative uses for something that doesn’t suit them, but it also negates inclusivity.
Designed with transwomen and gender-fluid AMAB people in mind, Exo provides sexual pleasure in a way that feels affirming to those who experience genital dysphoria. Many transfeminine people don’t enjoy touching their genitals during sex or prefer to orgasm from hands-free rubbing and grinding. Exo provides exactly this whether used alone or while being penetrated by a partner.
“The fundamental motivation for the toy is helping people experience pleasure that’s validating for their gender identity,” Hartman says. “Not even necessarily gender identity, but just their identity, period. And I think this toy can really help do that for a large group of people.”
Upon its conception, Hartman knew Exo had the potential to affirm the sex lives and lived experiences of many. He wanted to get it into people’s hands as quickly as possible. Over the last year or so Hartman busied himself testing mockups, sourcing materials, and launching the product for pre-order. In fact, he believes in Exo so wholeheartedly, he brought it to market without crowdfunding or outside investors.
“It has all been bootstrapping and pulling it together. At some point, we may go after financing. But up to this point, I've been able to finance it with savings and coming up with funding for the product and the tooling itself in all sorts of ways. Also, the promotion is a substantial piece of what needs to be funded. And yet we're doing it all. All is self-funded at this point.”
Exo’s first pre-orders were shipped in February and the item is now available for retail purchase at My-Exo.com for $69.99. They also offer a 14-day money-back guarantee for anyone who isn’t satisfied with the device. Additionally, Exo is penning agreements with Eldorado Trading Company for U.S. distribution and Lovehoney for global sales. European wholesaling relationships are also currently in the works.
With production in full swing, Hartman is shifting his focus to marketing, which has been one of the company’s biggest challenges. Fully aware that an innovative product is only useful to people if they know it exists, Exo has partnered with Healthy Pleasure Group to get the word out.
“I kind of liken it to being a shop in the back of a shopping mall,” Hartman says. “You can have the greatest product in the world, but if you're in the back and no foot traffic goes to see you, you're just going to wither and die and feel like nobody is actually interested in your product ... I think visibility thus far has been an obstacle. The Healthy Pleasure Group has done a great job in getting us out there. And I think we will continue to work to get over that obstacle.”
Moving forward, Hartman plans to refine and add features to the original design. Additionally, he intends to tap into his 15-year background in engineering and 3D printing to develop a family of related devices. “In the six-months-to-one-year frame, I’d like to expand on the core product and at the same time maybe start to prototype some new ideas. Part of the concept with Exo is it could be a platform.”
He goes on to explain, “The whole concept is that you're strapping something to your tummy that allows you to engage your genitals with whatever is attached to it. I think this offers some opportunities to think of some new things. In the immediate future we'll probably come up with additional sleeve colors, and you'll be able to buy the sleeve individually.”
Thus far Hartman’s proudest accomplishment has been producing and launching Exo with no major hiccups. Driven by his vision of inclusivity and facilitating transformative sexual experiences, making this gender-affirming product available to consumers was his top priority.
“The original inspiration was trans females and empowering them to have what would feel like a more organic sexual experience. One where they are not having to touch their genitals while having sex. Some trans females care about that, some don't. But either way, Exo provides a way to experience sex in a way that feels more organic. That was the most powerful motivator for me.”
The message of transgender inclusivity is also front and center in all of Exo’s branding. Its website reiterates, "With Exo, our mission is to provide a dependable support and embrace for everybody seeking better connection with themself and others on their journey of awakening and (re)discovery of pleasure in the body."
Hartman adds that although Exo was originally made for transwomen, anyone with a penis can enjoy it, whether non-binary people “or gay or bisexual males or even a straight male. Basically, anybody who masturbates or who enjoys having anal sex would also enjoy using the toy.”
