Hack Your Orgasm with this Open-Source Vibrator

​Everyone's weird when it comes to sex. And now sex toys can be hacked to be as weird as you want them to be.

Th​e Mod is an open source vibrator designed to facilitate "techno-sexual exploration." Currently crowdfunding a $50,000 goal via Indiego​go, the final product will be a body-safe flexible dildo embedded with three independent vibrating motors which can be programmed to simulate… pretty much anything at all.

The vibrator comes with an Arduino controller that can be used as a kind of trackpad for sex: it brings added sensory perception to tech devices and creates an "internet of things," joining the dots between the real and on-screen world.

Beyond the basic controller, users can get creative with sensors and bring kitchen utensils, the beat of a song, or the process of eating a banana (a​hem) into the experience. The rhythm and texture of everyday life can be co-opted as part of a sexy toy.

The Mod was announced this month as the flagship product by Comi​ngle, the Atlanta, Georgia company responsible for last year's Elec​tric Eel, a somewhat alarmingly-named condom rigged with electrodes to replicate the sensations dulled by normal condoms. The Electric Eel was attached to an Arduino controller, adding the possibility of remote or even automated control. The Mod works along similar principles, applying the idea to a dildo rather than a condom, and replacing the electrodes with independent vibrating motors.

Spe​aking at the brilliantly named Arse Elektronika, a sex and technology conference, in 2014, Comingle set out aims to promote sexual activism and tech literacy, borne out by the idea of a product which arrives already made, unlike the parallel trend towards 3D printed sex toys, which entirely hackable and yet body-safe. The toys are made from the 'Sorta ​Clear' and 'Dr​agon Skin' silicones, used in 'orthopedic cushioning' devices (it doesn't sound sexy, but if it works….). Users are also encouraged to share the patterns they create in an online library.

Comingle are DIY in the purest sense of the word: Here's Andy from their team getting a simu​lated facial from a dildo modded to squirt homemade "heal​thy imitation semen lube." They take part in sex-positive workshops, their website is a repository of well-documented sex hacks, and their crowdfunding perks are suitably folksy. There's a Comingle zine with an essay on theories of open-source sex technology, for example, and backers can also opt to "adopt a homeless dildo," some of which glow in the dark.

The company was formed this year after de​buting the Electric Eel at the 2014 Stitchfest Hackathon, and now the founders are dreaming big: if anyone is willing to contribute a lump $40,000 to their cause, they promise to host a "sexy workshop on a pl​ane" for the backer and three friends, hacking vibrators at 40,000 feet (please … anyone?).

Comingle pitches the new toy as a "platform" rather than a finite product: it will evolve as its user base grows. The creators plan to introduce different forms to choose from when you order the product, and even without hacking, the Mod's frequency and power of vibrations can be decided by the user. The vibrations can also be also programmed in advance by the user, or created by a sex partner using the "Dilduino" controller provided.

But perhaps the Mod's most interesting claim to "technosexual freedom" is its use of cap​acitive touch sensing, essentially the response between a conductive object, like the human body, and an electrical circuit. This allows the device to be controlled by anything you can imagine, using conductive tape, a stroke sensor, and the user's imagination.

The idea is to ​enhance sex using technology, and ultimately move sex in limitless new directions. Even funding the Mod, contributing to its library and sharing patterns, is an oddly communal experience, bordering on a kind of exhibitionism. Video​s on its YouTube channel show the creators experimenting using music, video camera pixels, Geiger counters, and a human pulse to dictate the Mod's vibrations and movements.

Imagine the possibilities for obje​ctum sexuals—people in relationships with objects—or those who are a little bit too attached to their favourite song. "Technosexual freedom" gives the user the ability to eroticize anything.