CamSoda wants you to broadcast your life, sex optional
For $200 a month, you can be the next JenniCam.
CamSoda may be a relatively small porn industry player, but it has embraced new technology by offering things like holographic girls and virtual blowjobs. Now, it's trying to meld two other popular attractions: amateur performers and live webcams with an offering called LifeStream. That gives ordinary folks the chance to broadcast their lives, with or without sexual activity, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In exchange, you get up to three 720P webcams, paid internet service and $200 per month.
The company points out that since social networks all offer users the ability to stream their lives, why not them? "Our offering broadcasts everything, from surfing the internet to eating lunch," says CamSoda VP Darren Press. "It's a true depiction of someone's entire life, and doesn't require any nudity or sex."
You might be rolling your eyes about watching regular, non-naked people surfing the internet, but Press thinks there are enough voyeurs out there to make it work. "We're confident people will want to share and watch it." Should you just want the highlights, participants can also create Snapchat-style stories featuring video sequences from the past 24 hours.
It's hard to say whether the free camera, internet and $200 a month is too much or too little compensation for broadcasting your life. On shows like Big Brother, producers intervene to add drama to everyday events, but most real people's day-to-day lives are probably pretty dull. In other words, you might spend tons of time and money to watch something juicy, and end up with nothing.
On the other hand, if someone is really willing to get naked or busy on camera, they probably want to be paid a lot more, so there's a risk you could see professional or wannabe performers on the supposedly amateur LifeStreams. It's also worth noting that lots of other sites offer amateur webcams, but those usually guaranteed to offer sex or nudity, and we image that the money is a lot better for the subjects.
CamSoda is also testing VR with LifeStream, and plans to incorporate it in the "coming months." As with its other livestreams, users must sign up for the service and purchase tokens to see anything. Just bear in mind that juggling VR with livestreamed porn can be "one big technological boner-killer," as Engadget's Christopher Trout put it. If you're interested in being a "performer," you can sign up here.