Oregon robotic sex toy pioneer appears to have shut down

Lora DiCarlo, an Oregon sex toy maker that made waves at a national technology show in 2019, has shut down its website and appears to be discontinuing operations.

The Bend-based company used robotics technology developed at Oregon State University to make a sexual aid it called the Osé. Lora DiCarlo described its product as a “vagina-focused robotic massager” that used micro-robotics to mimic the sensation of a human partner.

Lora DiCarlo’s website is offline now, and online employee profiles indicate many — including the former chief financial officer — have left the company. Online sex toy reviewer Bedbible reports that Lora DiCarlo’s products are no longer available on retail sites.

Founder and CEO Lora Haddock did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment Friday.

Portland attorneys representing Lora DiCarlo in a long-running patent dispute notified U.S. District Court in Eugene last month that they were withdrawing from the case over “professional conduct” rules. The attorneys did not specify the issue and did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Lora DiCarlo attracted national attention in 2019 after the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas stripped Lora DiCarlo of an innovation award, describing the Osé as “immoral, obscene, indecent, profane or not in keeping with” the show’s image.

After a national outcry, the Consumer Electronics Show reversed course and restored the prize. The show offered a “sincere apology” to the Oregon company and said it “did not handle this award properly.”

Show organizers tentatively sanctioned exhibits and awards for sexual technology under the health and wellness umbrella, beginning in 2020. The Consumer Electronics Show didn’t immediately respond Friday to an inquiry about whether that category will return at next month’s show.

Lora DiCarlo said at the time it had raised $3.2 million and had 14 employees, split between its headquarters in Bend and a research lab in Corvallis.