Searching the big porn show for the latest technology trends

LAS VEGAS -- The old saying in technology is that the new stuff shows up first in adult entertainment. If that's the case, think of my Saturday morning here as advance reconnaissance.

Taking a break from the Consumer Electronics Show down the street, I spent some time mingling with porn stars, executives and fans today on the show floor at the Adult Entertainment Expo, the industry's big annual convention. It's a tough job, I know, but I'm here to serve. The best part was explaining to everyone that the "Flash" in our site's name didn't mean what they thought.

In the midst of all that flesh, it turns out that there were, in fact, plenty of lessons for rest of the technology industry. More on those in a moment. But to start, the biggest tech trend on the minds of people at the show was something the porn business has been grappling with for some time now -- the shift to high-definition video.

"HD cameras," said porn star Faith Leon, when I asked her to name the biggest change she has seen in her five years in the industry. "I'm not a big fan. You can be the prettiest thing on earth, but you still have a flaw somewhere. To me, it's enough seeing everything you can see already."

The solution may ultimately be more about creative discretion than about technological advances, said "Coach," a cameraman for "Erotique Entertainment by Eric John" who declined to give his real name. HD is good for feature-style adult films with subdued lighting, he said, but it's not the right approach for the most-explicit scenes.

"Just because it exists, to me, doesn't mean it has to be used for that application," he said.

In a much broader sense, that's a lesson for the rest of the industry: Don't implement new technology unless it's good for the overall experience. Incidentally, it's a philosophy that has also been successful for Nintendo's Wii, which has taken the lead in the video-game console market by avoiding high-definition graphics and focusing instead on innovative gameplay.

Many of the exhibitors at the show this year are involved in online properties and digital downloads, reflecting the larger shift away from DVDs and other physical media. However, several booths exhibited Blu-ray Disc next-generation DVD technology.

The adult industry isn't proving immune to the problems in the broader economy, although it's still doing relatively well. The total number of exhibitors at the show this year is 267, down modestly from 301 last year, according to conference organizers.

At one booth, the Adult Entertainment Broadcast Network was showing its solution to two challenges faced by many tech companies -- piracy and the widespread availability of free content. The company is coming out with a virtual sex device for men, RealTouch, that matches, frame by frame, what's happening in a video through built-in vibration, motion, lubrication and heat.

"A lot of movies are just getting stolen, and this is an experience that cannot be stolen," explained Jim McAnally, a consultant to the Charlotte, N.C., company. "It's a better user experience."

The device, set for release as early as February, was developed by a NASA engineer, the company says. It's expected to sell for $149.95.

It takes eight hours to program every 15 minutes of video for the device. The product is also an example of premium online content. The price to access the related on-demand videos online is expected to be as much as $1 a minute, McAnally said.

In other ways, adult-entertainment entrepreneurs could learn lessons from their traditional tech counterparts. One big difference in adult entertainment is that companies don't talk to each other as much about lessons learned, said AJ Comparetto, an attorney in the industry. As a result, ideas that previously failed often resurface.

He cited 3D adult videos as an example. Consumers historically haven't wanted to wear the required glasses.

"In the regular tech world, people automatically know it's been done before," Comparetto said. "In the adult world, though, a lot of people throw a lot of cash at things that they don't know have been done and failed a couple times. No one really shares information."

For the record, I looked for Seattle-area companies at the show but wasn't able to find any -- or at least any that would acknowledge it.