You know the old saw: Wearing a condom during sex is like taking a shower in a raincoat. Doesn’t feel as good.
As a result of the loss of sensation, and other factors like lack of availability, poverty, and just not caring enough, condom usage worldwide is estimated at about five percent. This paltry number has tremendous implications for both public health and poverty.
Last March, the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation put out a call to build a better condom—to create the “next generation” of condom, one that enhances pleasure and is easier to use than the good-ole latex sheath, which has not changed much in the last, oh, say 500 years. Sure, there’s ribbing and other textures, colors and even flavors—and there was the helpful addition of the reservoir at the tip. But there’s still a fair amount of fumbling in the dark when it comes to condoms. Clearly a real breakthrough is needed.
A little over 800 inventors, scientists and innovators responded to the Gates challenge. Eleven of them received $100,000 each to continue developing their product. Some suggested different, thinner-yet-stronger materials than latex; others focused on ease of application. The lucky winner will get $1,000,000, and bragging rights as the inventor of the “condom of the future.” Here they are: the 11 potential condoms of tomorrow:
1. The Ultra-Sensitive Reconstituted Collagen Condom
This is a condom made with bovine tendons, which are cheap, plentiful and strong. The condom would have a skin like surface which would “facilitate heat transfer” and offer a “more natural sensation,” according to its developer Mark McGlothlin at Apex Medical Technologies in San Diego.
2. Dynamic, Universal Fit, Low Cost Condom
This prophylactic would be made of a material (a “composite anisotropic,” to be exact) that allows it to shrink to fit the person who is wearing it. It is “designed to gently tighten during intercourse, enhancing sensation and reliability,” says developer Benjamin Strutt at Cambridge Design Partnership, Cambridge, England.
3. Ultra Sheer “Wrapping” Condom with Superior Strength
Rather than shrink to fit like the one above, this condom made of superstrong, superthin polyethylene would be designed to cling to the mail member, yeupp, like Saran Wrap. So says developer Ron Frezieres at California Family Health Council, Los Angeles, who has found a prototype in Colombia that he wants to improve on. The condom would also have pull tabs that would be part of the sheath. You can see an illustration of Frezieres’ condom in action here.
4. Project Rapidom
The Rapidom is a condom delivery device, applicator handles, basically, which are separate from the condom itself. The theory is that easier application takes less time, is less of an interruption, and the condom will always be positioned properly. There’s already a prototype of the Rapidom, which will be further field-tested. It’s designed by Willem van Rensburg at Kimbranox (Pty) Limited, Stellenbosch in South Africa.
5. Biologically Inspired Condom
A polymer compound would be created that would “mimic the properties of mucosal tissue,” or lubricated skin, and be able to be mass-produced at low cost, says would-be creator Patrick Kiser at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
6. Graphene-Based Polymer Composites For High Heat Transfer, Improved Sensitivity And Drug Delivery
Graphene is a crystalline form of carbon that has various desirable properties—it’s super thin, extremely strong and highly flexible. And it conducts heat, according to the Gates Foundation. It would be mixed with current condom materials to make thinner, heat-conducting condoms. This condom, developed by Lakshminarayanan Ragupathy at HLL Lifecare, in Trivandrum, India, would also incorporate drugs to enhance both safety and pleasure.
7. Super-Hydrophilic Nanoparticle Condom Coating
In this case, the condom would wear a coat, or rather a “super-hydrophilic nanoparticle coating.” It’s a superthin layer to better protect against breakage, and transmission of infections, and is being developed by Karen Buch and Ducksoo Kim at Boston University.
8. Ultrathin Adaptable Condoms for Enhanced Sensitivity
The name tells part of the story. Richard Chartoff at the University of Oregon in Eugene plans to make a condom using polyurethane elastic polymers for a strong, very thin material that conforms to the user, a process that is activated by warmth. It’s said that the material would be half as thin as latex condoms, hence more sensation. Everybody likes that.
9. The Condom Applicator Pack (CAP)
As the name suggests, this is another condom delivery device. No more need to put on a condom with bare hands. No more risk of tearing. Condoms and applicator would come together in one tidy package. This one comes from Sydney, Australia and is the brainchild of Michael Rutner and Russell Burley.
10. An Enhanced Condom Using Nanomaterials
The idea here is to create a new “composite elastic” material to make condoms that enhance natural sensation. Graphene, a miracle nanomaterial, would be used, since it is also very strong (like, 100 times stronger than steel, it’s been said.) Aravind Vijayaraghavan and his team at the University of Manchester in England is working on it.
11. Ultra-Sensory Condoms Based on New Superelastomer Technology
The goal here is to develop a super cheap, super thin condom that mimics the texture of human skin, so you won’t even know it is there. Chemist Jimmy Mays at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville would do that using superlastomers, which he describes as a “highly elastic polymer.”
Related Stories
- What I Learned by Giving a Homeless Woman Shelter in My Home
- I Took Down the Man Who Posted a Hacked Topless Photo of My Daughter on the Internet
- High School Student, Tasered in School by Cop, Is in a Coma, Mother Says
Source: Alternet