Jakob Konik

“Lovely and its algorithms will improve over time, making it a better and better product.”

With a development period of close to two years, Lovely is definitely one of the more elaborate products the adult market has seen in recent times – even though, at first glance, it looks like an ordinary cock ring, i.e. a product that doesn’t normally require that much time and work. But what makes Lovely special can’t be seen from the outside. With its modern software, this piece of technology could become a constant companion for many couples. In our interview, Lovely inventor Jakob Konik explains how his product works and what sets it apart from the competition.


 

After a long development process, you are about to launch Lovely, a smart cock ring. Is this an exciting time for you?
Jakob Konik: The last two years of Lovely’s development have been like a crazy rollercoaster ride, mostly upwards due to the manufacturing challenges we overcame, but right now, we are nearing a tipping point and are about to start the most exciting part: sharing our Lovely with customers and partners all around the world. I have no doubts that the upcoming year will be the most exciting of my life thanks to all the couples who are about to enhance their sex life and sexual wellbeing by using Lovely.

What makes Lovely different from other cock rings that are on the market right now?
Highly personalised, sex-related suggestions that the couples receive after sex via the Lovely App. For example, we can suggest new positions and stimulation techniques or other sex-related ideas to try, everything based on your preferences and desires. Therefore, you can diversify and explore your sex life together with your partner, which leads to a better experience for both of you.

When couples are looking to reignite the fire in the bedroom, their first idea is often to get a sex toy or try new positions. With Lovely, they are getting both, plus a wide array of other sex-related tips & tricks prepared by our team of sexologists. So they get much more value than with other products on the market.

Apart from that, Lovely’s shape was designed for maximum contact with the clitoris during intercourse which isn’t the case with most cock rings on the market.

Lovely Penisring
Lovely can be used just as a cock ring, but its full potential is only realised in combination with the app

How long did it take you to get from the first idea to the final product? What were the biggest challenges you had to overcome?
It took us more than two years and we encountered a lot of the normal manufacturing challenges, but the biggest one was to achieve the desired silicone quality and finish. No one we met in Europe knew how to create the silky-smooth finish we wanted. We had to go to China for that, which was the second biggest challenge – to source and establish relationships with factories there. But everything is working smoothly now and we are looking forward to the product launch with excitement.

Lovely promises to be more than a sex toy; it is also supposed to help the user have a better and more varied sex life thanks to suggestions from the app. This sounds like quite a feat of software engineering. How satisfied are you with the results of your app?
We are very happy with how the Lovely App suggests new sex-related ideas to the couples. You don’t have to take our word on that, as we are running closed and open beta testing of the Lovely App, which will help us fine-tune it even more and ultimately make Lovely a better product for everyone. Unlike other sex toys on the market, Lovely can be updated over-the-air, just as your smartphone or Tesla car. This means Lovely and its algorithms will improve over time, making it a better and better product for the users.

Lovely between hands
The Lovely app is designed to bring couples closer together on an intimate level

Some customers might worry that the data collected by Lovely ends up in the wrong hands. Which measures did you take to make sure that the personal data of your users are secure?
First of all, we have a clear privacy policy and users have to explicitly give us their permission to analyse the data. If they do not agree to that, they can still use the Lovely and all its features. Secondly, we are using a custom-developed encryption on all stages of communication. And finally, by design, our system doesn’t connect the data to any personal data, email or address, so even if the data was stolen, it would be just worthless gibberish.

Lovely is designed to be more than a cock ring with an app; instead, you want to create a whole ecosystem consisting of hardware, software, and also input from sexologists who work with you. Which role do these sexologists play for Lovely?
They supervise all stages of the Lovely and the Lovely App development, advise us on the communication and mechanisms Lovely uses, and add the suggestions and ideas that couples get from the Lovely App. They also analyse the anonymised data coming from our Lovelys. So basically, they are vital part of the Lovely ecosystem; without them, it would be just a vibrating toy.

Could you tell us more about the software? What exactly can the user expect from the app? What’s the main benefit?
Both partners can use the Lovely App to view personalised suggestions for new positions, stimulation techniques, and other sex-related ideas to try. For example, if the couple likes oral fun, we can suggest new positions to them that enable good oral stimulation, or a choice of different oral stimulation techniques that should fit their style. If the couple is looking to have more passionate sex, we can suggest one of dozens of ideas on how to get there, so they can try, explore, and achieve more passionate sex together. Or if they’re looking to have longer intercourse, we can tell them to switch positions more often or try positions that provide less stimulation, and we actually show them which positions they should try.

What’s even more important is that the Lovely App encourages sex-related communication between the couple, which is one of the most important factors of a good sex life.

It also shows both partners how many calories they burn during sex, which is a nice addition – sex is the best fitness activity there is.

Lovely penisring with banana
Two years of development went into Lovely

The development of Lovely took over two years and already now, copycats start popping up. How can small and innovative companies protect themselves against such practices?
There are various ways of doing it, from legal to aggressive business practices. However, we believe that, ultimately, the best way of protecting ourselves from copycats is to create better products and a better user experience, and that’s what we’re all about.

Lovely uses modern software and well-designed hardware, created and combined in a long development processes. Do you think the adult industry in general will become more technology-driven in the future?
I’m sure of it. Lovely and other sex tech start-ups lead the way and represent a change. The customers are realising that sex tech products provide much more value than regular sex toys so a market change is inevitable. It might take some time and tinkering because it’s not so easy to create sex tech products, but it has already started and you can’t stop progress.

Of course, normal, vibration-only sex toys will persist as they are serving their purpose just fine if they’re designed well. But the market will shift towards sex tech products.

Lovely
Lovely learns the user’s preferences – making it a more effective product as time goes on

When will Lovely be available for consumers and retailers?
The first early-bird customers are going to receive their Lovelys in early December. We are ready to send samples to retailers immediately and bulk orders will be ready to ship from 1st of January. We have unique, wonderful packaging and awesome marketing materials that get people’s attention, so we can’t wait to work with retailers to make millions of couples enjoy sex even more. Interested retailers can reach out at hello@ourlovely.com

Were you able to implement all the ideas you had for Lovely or are there ideas that will have to wait until Lovely 2.0?
We had to leave out a lot of ideas due to time and cost restraints, but the current Lovely is fully functional and awesome, and thanks to over-the-air updates it will be getting better and better with each update, offering better suggestions and features. There’s also another product in the pipeline, but we’ll have to talk about that later!