The world of sex robots is in its infancy, but we’re starting to see some fantastic innovation. Nolan Robotics is a one man show from UK-based Reddit user and mechanical engineer Falandorn, who reckons he’s come up with the most realistic blowjob machine yet. We have to agree.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, about a month after the campaign ended, production was cancelled for “personal reasons” and refunds issued.

Falandorn is a well-known name in the VR maker market for having previously produced the noobtube, a PVC pipe gun stock that allowed users to mount their controllers for a more realistic experience in VR first-person shooters. His new blowjob peripheral also started life as an enhancement for VR porn, but when he realized it was just so damned realistic anyway, he dropped the VR necessity.

The droid felt so unnervingly human in its own presence and actions that I found seeing this thing in action was all the visual stimulation that was needed. I guess VR does add to it as well as other 2D media but it ended up being a secondary role to the experience.

The head appears to be a modified off-the-shelf silicon model with a tube added to reduce the unpleasant suction that these things can often cause, as well as making for easier clean up. What we particularly love about the Service Droid is that despite a simple wooden frame, he’s able to dress it up to the point that it looks terrifyingly realistic. The frame is adjustable for multiple angles, too. However, it’s only demonstrated with some heavily padded jackets and outdoor wear – we suspect this wouldn’t work with something like say, a latex maid uniform. For that, you’d still need a realistic body form.

Unfortunately, the head seems to hit the uncanny valley for many potential buyers: that’s where a robot appears at first glance to be realistic, but something is just … ever so slightly odd … that it triggers some sort of primal revulsion in the human brain, like a dead body might. We’ve discussed this before, so it’s worth linking here, but we’re actually not fans of hyper-realistic sex robots anyway, given the ability of VR to dress up reality.

But that’s exactly where the strength of this mechanical device lies – it has only the bare necessities: put on a VR headset, and ultimately it doesn’t matter that it’s a block of silicon on a mechanical actuator that you’re having sex with – it can look like an anthropomorphized unicorn in your VR fantasy world. You could add to the “realism” by wrapping the frame in a faux fur rug, if that’s your thing.

A complete package of mechanical frame and droid head will set you back £200 on early bird pricing, with conservative shipping estimates of August. At the time of writing, it appears there are only a few backers, but it’s flexible funding so the project can’t fail. And unlike the VirtuaDolls disaster, the Droid Service Bot seems a lot more realistic, with production ready to start. We wish him good luck, and will be grabbing one ourselves, because this is right up our alley.