The ongoing global coronavirus pandemic may, among other things, have an impact on the nature of intimate interactions between people in the future, Business Insider reports citing Angelina Aleksandrovich, founder and creative director of Raspberry Dream Labs.

According to the media outlet, Aleksandrovich’s company is “busy building a rig and software so people who are apart can still enjoy intimacy,” adding that "the time is so ripe for it."

Raspberry Dream Labs’ product is reportedly geared for people who may be reluctant to meet new partners in person, while providing "users who are apart a sense of being intimate, with immersive sounds, visuals, and scents."

The rig also "places haptic pulses" on users’ bodies, mimicking the sensation of being touched.

The technology, which is currently in a prototype state, is expected to eventually allow people to enter Raspberry Dream Land, the company’s virtual platform, and to interact with others there.

As Aleskandrovich explained, the company is building its own platform after encountering “enormous oppression” and censorship while testing virtual reality hosting sites.

"As in what the future hold for us: It holds total independence from censoring corporations and freedom of radical expression as we build our own social webXR platform — Raspberry Dream Land — where people can meet in the virtual world, go on the dates, attend events that would be censored elsewhere online, get playful and build meaning connections over the distance,” she said.