BOSTON — Sssh.com has announced a new feature, titled “Sssh Soirée,” which allows couples to stream movies together even when they are apart.
The new feature, a rep said, “creates an entirely new kind of erotic experience by integrating fantasy and reality into a single package."
Using Soirée, viewers can watch any movie or video content on Sssh.com while seeing and hearing each other in real time, “affording a level of interaction and intimacy that can’t be accomplished in a text-only chat environment,” the rep said.
Sssh.com Founder and Director Angie Rowntree said she was inspired to create Soirée by the stories of isolation and loneliness she heard from both her friends and Sssh.com members during COVID-19 lockdowns.
“The widespread loneliness and isolation that so many experienced during the pandemic can severely harm us on multiple levels,” Rowntree said. “Initially I wasn’t thinking about sex — I wanted to help alleviate that loneliness and address the need we all have for human connection.”
The more she thought about potential applications of her concept, the more Rowntree realized it was an ideal addition to Sssh.com, presenting another means for couples to enjoy the site’s sex-positive, cinematic movies, as well as its library of sex-ed and sexual wellness videos.
“It’s a fabulous trifecta,” Rowntree said, “a perfect union of award-winning cinema, sex tech, and sexual wellness.”
How 'Soirée' Works
Members can host a “Soirée” by sending an invite link to their guest and creating a private, virtual viewing room. They can then participate in a video chat while enjoying the movies of their choice from the host’s movie playlist, synced instantly to the guest’s interface.
“The flexible Soirée platform enables couples to enjoy eye contact and see each other’s facial expressions, or to play movies in full screen while maintaining audio contact, depending on the users’ preference at the moment,” the rep added. “With the movies front-and-center, and the ability to interact as you wish with your viewing partner, Soirée is a truly social and integrative viewing experience for consenting adults."
Rowntree explained that ”Soirée adds a whole new layer of potential to long-distance intimacy, enabling a level of interaction that’s simply not available over the phone or by sexting. And if a couple chooses to combine the use of remote-controlled sex toys with their Soirée sessions, then it becomes a truly orgasmic cinematic experience.”
Privacy and Other Uses
Sssh.com emphasizes that it does not track, record, copy, index, archive or look in on any Soirée sessions conducted by its members.
“Soirée is 100% private with peer-to-peer encryption — an experience that belongs entirely to the viewers who use it,” Rowntree said. “At a time when we’re so often forced to maintain a physical distance between us, Soirée affords a level of intimacy beyond the typical videochat.”
While Rowntree envisions the primary users of Soirée to be couples and lovers watching porn together remotely, she noted that the platform has potential to be very useful in other contexts.
“Soirée also allows access to our curated collection of sexual education and wellness videos, so using the platform can open the door to stronger communication about intimacy and pleasure — not just between couples and lovers, but for play partners, or even platonic friends who might be curious, or otherwise able to benefit from the educational material itself,” Rowntree said.
The Soirée platform can also be used by journalists, film reviewers and film scholars, offering them access to firsthand commentary on the film from the writer, director and actors.
“As the movie plays, the interviewer would be able to ask questions with the benefit of the content and creator(s) right in front of them,” Rowntree noted. “Having licensed my content to mainstream shows and movies in the past, I could see using Soirée to simplify and expedite the process of finding segments and sequences of my movies that fit the needs of the licensee.”
Sssh Soirée is available to Sssh.com members at no additional cost.
For more information, visit Sssh.com, or contact Rowntree via Twitter or email at press@sssh.com to request a demo of the platform.