Everything You Need to Know About Virtual Reality Porn

One of the many, many great things about porn is that it's always growing and evolving to fit with new mainstream modes of media. With the invention of the camera came nude photos. Later, the rise of subscription based magazines gave those dirty pictures a distribution plan. And not surprisingly, porn has continued to keep up with all of our video capabilities, from on demand channels to websites and even live streaming.

So it's no surprise that with the rise of VR, the porn industry would obviously find a way to capitalize on this newly trendy medium. While other VR users are utilizing their headsets to visit faraway destinations or place themselves behind the wheel of the fastest race car in the world, the guys who know the value of a good spank bank are getting lap dances, blow jobs and having threesomes without having to fork over large amounts of cash -- or ever leave their home.

VR porn takes you into each dirty plot line, to the point where you can't help but reach out and try to touch what you're seeing. That's how tangible the experience feels. Ready to learn more? Here's how VR porn is making solo sessions so much hotter -- and feel a lot less solo.

The State of VR Porn

Marketers are paying close attention to where VR is headed, and there's one thing they all agree on: Porn is at the helm of VR's future. By 2025, VR porn is set to be a billion dollar business, closely following the top contenders in the VR space like video games ($1.4 billion) and NFL-related content ($1.23 billion), according to a recent projection done by Piper Ray.

The term "VR porn" covers a blanket of different types of video capabilities and functionality. Once you start looking into the topic, phrases like 3D, 4K, 360, 1080p and others will start to get thrown around. So let's take a step back, and get clear on the rundown of what all of that means in terms of your viewing pleasure.

VR Terms To Know

Here's a breakdown of terms you'll likely come across when navigating the wonderful world of VR porn -- as explained by the experts behind them.

3D - "As soon as you're watching a video in a headset, you're getting a 3D experience," explains Doug McCourt, founder of 3dpornreviews.com. "That's because the headset divides the image up into two separate images, and each eye looks at one, which gives you that sense of three dimensions."

360 - "Take a piece of paper and hold it up," says McCourt. "That's a regular video. Now fold that piece of imaginary paper so it goes all the way around you. That's 360. You can look to the side, you can turn around, but the image is still flat. Now step inside that paper. Welcome to VR. In VR you can get closer or farther away from the subjects, sometimes even walk around. So really, when we talk about VR porn, we're actually talking about 360 porn (which obviously doesn't sound as exciting)."

180 - "Imagine you are standing in the center of a sphere, and that inside surface of that sphere is a screen," says Bradley Phillips, managing director of WankzVR. "360 degree content would fill the entire sphere. Now, cut that sphere in half from the top to the bottom, and you have 180 degree content. You can still look all the way up and all the way down, but directly behind you there is no image. 180 degree content is hemispherical."

4K vs. 1080p HD - Both terms refer to the quality (sharpness) of the video. "Like 1080P HD did a few years ago, 4K represents the gold standard as far as video resolution goes today," Phillips says. "Images are made up of tiny colored dots called pixels. The term 4K (also referred to as UHD or Ultra High Definition), refers to the horizontal resolution of the video, or more specifically, how many pixels wide the image is. Although the name 4K would insinuate that it represents 4,000 pixels of horizontal resolution, in general it refers to 3,840, and not 4,000." So, what's the difference? "When compared to 1080P, 4K video has double the horizontal as well as the vertical resolution, meaning that each image contains 4 times the pixels," Phillips explains. "When it comes to displaying images or videos of different resolutions on a screen with a fixed resolution, the visual difference is that a 4K image would appear 4 times as large. Conversely, if you were to view both a 1080P and a 4K image or video on a screen that adapts the image to the screen size regardless of its resolution, the 4K image would have 4 times the pixel density and thus present a clearer and crisper image."

Male POV vs. Female POV - "POV stands for point of view," says McCourt, "the person the user experiences as 'me.' So in a male POV, you'll be looking down and seeing a male body where your own would be. Same thing for female POV." But of course, not the same body.

Top Products Right Now

So now that you've got the terms down, let's talk hardware. If looking at the prices of top tier VR headsets is giving you commitment issues, you can always start streaming on your iPad, tablet or mobile phone with a simple cardboard setup. "I certainly recommend starting out with a Google cardboard compatible headset," says Phillips. "The fact that cardboard is in the name no longer means that they are actually made out of cardboard. Some of the newer options are molded plastic headsets with a fit and finish that rivals many of the premium products out there. The real bonus is that Google cardboard can be used with virtually any smartphone, as long as it fits in the headset you buy, and are generally available online for as little as $10."

Oculus Rift

If you're willing to spend some serious dollars on your VR headset, the resounding response we heard from the experts was that the Oculus Rift is truly the best of the best in terms of quality. "Oculus Rift is a well supported and powerful device with a great screen that really allows users to view content in the best possible light," says Phillips. But while it's best for viewability, it comes with one major drawback -- you need to be hooked up to a computer in order to use it. But if the price point and the need to be positioned near your laptop seem like a small price to pay for the most vivid experience and clear picture tracking a headset could give you, this is the headset for you.

Samsung Gear

"I find the Samsung Gear to be the most versatile, comfortable, mobile and user friendly device," says Phillips. "Driven by a Samsung smartphone, the gear itself is a lightweight and relatively inexpensive headset. Yet when paired with your phone the VR experience is outstanding and there are no cords restricting your movement. The Samsung Gear is easy to learn and the controls, which are right on the headset itself, are simple to use and feel more natural than trying to find keys on a keyboard, or buttons on a remote."

HTC Vive

"The HTC Vive is awesome, it has a ton of flexibility with respect to being about to move around and explore a virtual environment," says Phillips. "When it comes to adult content, mobility within the virtual space is not yet an integral feature as you only move location when your avatar (the cameras) move." The Vive gives you full degree of motion, and supports VR porn games that call for higher functionality. It will also set you back $800. But can you really put a price on happiness?

$799 at Vive.com

Daydream

If you're looking for a headset that will come with content and app capabilities ready to go, Wren Handman, VR content creator says the Daydream is a solid VR headset contender to consider -- as long as you've got a strong password on your phone. "The Daydream is a good quality headset and will have some content, but will also only allow you to download apps," he says. "Which means you have the content on your phone. If privacy is a concern for you, that could be a problem."

Paid vs. Free VR Porn

So you've bought a fancy headset. Now, how much is this VR porn going to actually cost to watch? Here's a breakdown of free sites, and the sites worth paying for.

Free Sites

Here's the thing about creating VR porn -- it's pretty damn expensive. Because of this, there are hardly any sites offering full length experiences on the house. "You can find a few sites that host extensive free preview clips such as SexLikeReal and 3Dpornreviews," says McCourt. "You can find longer movie samples on Pornhub, which did a partnership with BaDoinkVR. But people want the highest quality files right now, due to the already low image quality on early devices. This creates a situation where people are now paying for porn that have never paid for porn in their lives -- and that is a healthy equation for growth."

Sites Worth Paying For

Which top VR Porn sites are worth it? Here are the current industry leaders, their capabilities, and what it'll cost you for access.

WankzVR - Run by top dogs in the VR space, the site includes member forums that encourage users to leave feedback. Opening up the conversation and actually listening to their audience is one thing that has put WankzVR ahead of the game. A monthly membership will set you back $19.99, or $79.95 for 12 months of access. Membership gives you full access to the site's library, with new VR scenes added to the site twice weekly. One thing to note is that all content found on WankzVR is shot in 180 only. But the site's managing director does have a few solid reasons for doing so. "First off, we hope that the models in our videos are enticing enough to prevent our users from wanting to turn around and look the other way," says Phillips. "Additionally, because of the high resolution and frame rate we shoot at, the videos files are absolutely massive. Some of our 180 scenes are hours long and a single one of them can use up the majority of some storage devices. Attempting to shoot these feature length scenes in 360 degrees would severely limit us with respect to keeping our quality high while maintaining an acceptable file size. Finally, to shoot in 360, we would have to make a decision: either the viewer would be able to turn around and watch our production crew at work, or we would have to remove our production crew from the set entirely. Neither of those situations seems that appealing to us right now."

Naughty America VR - Naughty America is true to its name, focusing on the "all-American" girl next door type of models -- with some MILF features weaved in here as well. "This site is right behind WankzVR in terms of the market share," says McCourt. If you're not ready to commit to an entire month of VR porn, Naughty America offers a three day rate at $1.95. If you're ready to pull the trigger, becoming a year long member will only set you back $5.95 per month. The site's capabilities are similar to WankzVR, shot in 180 rather than full 360, with new videos added twice per week.

BaDoinkVR- According to McCourt, the content found on BaDoinkVR is praised for being keen on image clarity. Signing up for membership includes a free Google cardboard headset, and you can browse the site's offerings for just a dollar a day, with monthly and yearly pricing running similarly to their competitors ($5.95 per month per year). But if 360 VR is what you're after, you'll get more bang for your buck with BaDoinkVR -- who shoots the entire 360 sphere.

VRBangers - If you're an avid porn watcher, you'll be excited to know that VRBangers has one thing that none of the other VR Porn competitors do -- porn star Dillion Harper. If you just got hard thinking about her in 360 VR, we can probably just stop here. But in case you were wondering how much access is going to cost you, you've got a few options: $19.99 for one month, a discounted rate of $13.33 for three months (includes a free headset) or $8.33 per month for a year (includes a fancier free headset).