“I’m pretty inspired by Stoya and Dale Carnegie. I bet their names have never been used in a sentence together!” says Alex Fine, one of the founders of Dame Products, creator of Eva: the world’s first hands free couples vibrator that is about to shake up SexTech.

You know, she’s probably right. It’s not every day you see one of the world’s most revered adult stars and the late academic sharing common ground, but then Dame aren’t your every day company either.

“We both really admire Kristen Stubbs and The Effing Foundation. I love just about everything Amy Schumer does. I find Mae West pretty amazing – she had an entire career as a Broadway playwright before going to Hollywood in her 40’s to make a name for herself as a sex symbol” says her co-founder, Janet Lieberman.

It’s this eclectic blend of influences that have laid the foundations for the company and the revolutionary product they have created. Screech! Cut to chase: Eva provides women with the clitoral stimulation they want and need during sex. Eva’s unique flexible wings keep the vibrator in place by comfortably tucking under the labia majora. Eva remains unobtrusive throughout penetrative sex. It’s bold, fresh, unique… and might just change the way we view, design, create and use SexTech. Exciting, isn’t it?

… and it’s not just BaDoink that believes this either. Alex and Janet’s mission resonated with so many people that their IndieGoGo campaign stands as the most successful one run solely by women.

“We’ve believed in it all along, so to have our enthusiasm for the product reflected by so many individuals is inspiring and motivates us to keep innovating and expanding,” says Alex. “We’ve always believed that it’s important that we’re women creating a product for women, and we’re glad that our customers feel the same way.”

The development of Eva has benefited from the combination of both access to the latest tech and a razor sharp eye for ways to prevent costs from spiralling out of control. The highly-educated duo – Alex studied at Columbia while Janet plied her educational trade at MIT before their paths crossed as independent sex toy company owners in Brooklyn – are at the cutting edge of design and thought in SexTech.

“Because we’re self-funded we took a pretty lean model to development,” continues Janet. “The feature that became the wings was going to be the most challenging aspect, so we developed that separately to start. Material properties were going to be crucial to function for the wings, so we knew that ordering machined versions (one of the easiest ways to prototype in production materials) was going to be expensive.

“That’s where 3D printing comes in – we probably went through 30 or 40 3D printed versions of that part alone, and then we only had to order the most likely candidates in material. We could then use the same machined wings with different 3D printed bodies, which let us do functional tests while also exploring different industrial design directions.”

We really learned that every detail matters when you’re dealing with female anatomy, especially for these wings, which were a challenge to perfect,” says Alex. “Changing a dimension by a millimeter one way or another had a huge effect on results.”

Of course, some may be slightly wary – perturbed even – at the concept of Eva. After all, women will be plotting their sex lives on a literal wing – or two – and a prayer by using the product. And hey, such reservations are perfectly normal. It’s a trust issue. It always is when it comes to sex. Alex, Janet and Dame want to quell those fears and let you enjoy Eva to the hilt.

“The important thing to understand is that using sex toys during intercourse is pretty normal,” says Alex. “Statistics might help with this: According to two different surveys – one done by Trojan and the other done by Indiana University – roughly 40% of people have used a sex toy during sex. Using a sex toy during intercourse is a pretty normal thing to explore. Making this clearer could help quell anxieties.”

And if you don’t trust the creators nor us, then the customers testimonials speak for themselves…

Excitement among SexTech consumers is palpable. The #1 crowd funded sex toy has just hit the $1,000,000 mark in pre-sale revenue. They do their utmost to make it clear that Eva is a ‘one-size-fits-most’ product, and that – due to the extreme variance in female body type – it won’t work for everyone, but the general feedback has been that it improves the experience for most.

“As a society, we’re ready to have this kind of product and these kinds of discussions about sex,” says Alex as the interview draws to a close. “We marketed our product in a straightforward and practical way. We didn’t present the toy as a sexytime cure all or a sexual product. The toy is for sex but we didn’t use sex to sell it. We just presented our consumer with a unique solution to a consumer pain point, and I think that our approach has been really appreciated and well-received.”

“As a brand,” chimes in Janet to finish. “we’re going to stay focused on women, driven by the customer needs and committed seamless integration. We always start by talking to women and understanding what they want.”

It’s another big step in the SexTech revolution… and look, no hands!