BERKELEY, Calif. — Developed by a primarily female-led team of designers and engineers, the Lioness is a vibrator that’s designed to help women learn about their sexual likes and dislikes and share their findings.
According to its Indiegogo campaign, the “Lioness is a vibrator designed to help you learn about your body's sexual response. Discover things you never knew about your own, unique body — what you like, dislike, and would like but don't know yet.”
The Lioness provides users with feedback from the vibrator’s vaginal contraction, temperature, and positioning sensors, so they can try things and immediately see how their body reacts.
“So far, we’ve been able to help users understand optimal foreplay time, how their sex drive relates to their menstrual cycle, and more,” the company said. “But there's huge potential in what we'll be able to do in even a year for both our users and the world's understanding of female sexuality.”
Lioness CEO and co-founder Liz Klinger told the University of California’s Berkeley News about her personal inspiration for creating the innovative sexual health product.
“I grew up in a more conservative family from the Midwest and we never talked about sex,” she said. “And because I wasn’t able to ask questions early on, it only made me more curious to learn more about what was out there.”
Lioness users can not only track their sexual responses but also share that data anonymously with women across the globe, as well as their intimate partners. Klinger told Berkeley News that the Lioness could make tech-enabled expertise a group resource.
“This is another way to frame the conversation … As like, this is how my body works, this is just what it is and we can have this more objective conversation about just what do we like, how does the body work for you and me, and how can we work together on this?”
According to the Lioness’ Indiegogo campaign, the company reached its goal in less than four days. Klinger told Forbes that Lioness’ “problem-solving design features” appeal to consumers as much as its smart “smart” capabilities. The Lioness features a travel lock, “uncommonly straightforward control buttons” and a low battery indicator.