Yes, you saw right. Sex toys that can be controlled from your smart-phone. With items ranging from light bulbs to watches now “connected”, it was perhaps only natural that vibrators followed suit. The firms behind the toys are trying to solve a number of problems such as long-distance relationships.

“If one partner is away and the other is at home they can connect and share intimacy remotely,” Frank Ferrari, president of standard innovation at We-Vibe, told CNBC by phone.

We-Vibe sells several devices that connect your smartphone with aspects such as vibration able to be controlled from your handset. It works over distance too, allowing someone in another location to control the sex toy. The app that is used to control the device also comes with a videolink feature allowing people to see each other too.

“People are not looking for more apps. They don’t want a tracker on their sex life but they do want more pleasure,” the co-founder said, adding that the ability to connect to the smartphone is to let people find the right settings for them.

Bad for relationships?

But could the increasing use of tech in the bedroom be to the detriment of relationships? A campaign has already been launched to highlight the potential “harmful” effects of having sex with robots, as companies rush to develop robots that can be used as sexual substitutes for humans.

However, one expert said that these devices will increase intimacy between couples, as long as they are not used as a substitute.

“Toys connected to the smartphone are encouraging intimacy. It’s using what we have to enhance experience rather than in place of human contact,” Rebecca Dakin, author and sex expert who runs the “Great British Sexpert” website, told CNBC by phone.

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