From NYT:
Good to see people working on these ideas.
And a question:
I've seen these in a magazine article but has anyone used these? They work?
The condom of the future might be made of cow tendon or fish skin. It might have shape memory to instantly mold to a specific man. Or it might come with pull tabs so a man could slip it on with little fuss.
Those ideas are among the winners announced Wednesday by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation of a contest to create a condom that men would actually use. The contest, the foundation said, aimed to decrease unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases with a next-generation condom that significantly preserves or enhances pleasure.
The foundation received 812 applications, chose 11 and awarded the winners
Many ideas involved materials besides latex, aiming for thinner, stronger, less constricting condoms with better sensation, reducing the loving distance between partners, so they will be more close, said Dr. Papa Salif Sow, a Gates senior program officer. Other ideas focused on how to improve the donning, he said, because in sub-Saharan Africa, sex is basically done with low light and it might be very difficult to see the direction of the condom.
Winners include the ultrasensitive reconstituted collagen condom proposed by Apex Medical Technologies in San Diego. Apexs president, Mark McGlothlin, said his product would feel like skin and be made from collagen fibers from cows Achilles tendons or possibly fish skin.
Theyre unbelievably strong, said Mr. McGlothlin, who currently gets beef tendon from a Vietnamese grocery. I could yank all day and not break this thing.
A wrapping condom proposal by the California Family Health Council in Los Angeles will build on a version manufactured in Colombia, made of polyethylene plastic that clings like Saran Wrap rather than squeezes, according to Ron Frezieres, the councils vice president for research. It would come in three-packs the size of a credit card and almost as thin, he said,
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/21/health/condom-contest-produces-812-ideas-for-improvement.html?hp&_r=0At least two winners will work with polyurethane, including Richard Chartoff, a University of Oregon chemical engineer, who foresees a one-size-fits-all design having shape memory to fit like an extra layer of skin, conforming to the shape. He is also considering adding nanoparticles containing antiviral or antibacterial drugs, and, more prosaically, offering different colors.
Good to see people working on these ideas.
And a question:
I've seen these in a magazine article but has anyone used these? They work?
http://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/best-condomsFor a Faster Start
LifeStyles Warming Pleasure
The water-based lubricant on this latex sheath contains a warming ingredient that stimulates the clitoris, labia, and vaginal wall. If you heat up slower than a vintage Chevy in the dead of winter, it can work like a hot-wire. Our tester says: "The sensation was mild but very sensual--almost like a warm, wet tongue."
$11 for 12