A recent survey published in The Wall Street Journal stated that there are at present at least 25,000 websites devoted to sexually oriented material. This number is growing with every day. New technologies in the computer world often find their first success in the pornography field and this was the case with webcams and web chats.

A webcam (short for web camera) is defined as, a real time camera whose images can be accessed using the World Wide Web, instant messaging, or a PC video calling application. Generally, a digital camera delivers images to a web server, either continuously or at regular intervals.

After webcams became really popular in cyberspace next came what was known as the live streaming webcam which involved live images and software that was without plugins. While the live streaming webcam is still around today, the new wave is towards videoconferencing.

Personal videoconferencing is superior to other forms of computer technologies because it deals with live feed images that are happening in the moment. What world wide web users when they log on is not images recorded hours, days, weeks or even months before but action that is happening in real time. Cameras can be set up and images transmitted via the Internet from anywhere across the globe.

For example, a viewer anywhere in the United States could log onto an adult website and watch a beauty disrobe right in front of his eyes regardless of whether she is in England, France, Germany, Spain, Russia, etc. This form of watching life as it unfolds in the now is appealing to many who enjoy participating in the adult porno industry. But it goes one step further than just images. The viewer can communicate verbally with the model on the computer screen. This allows the fantasy to become more realistic than simply watching a movie or flipping through a magazine.

Videoconferencing is gaining in popularity when it comes to the adult industry because the prices of the technology needed are becoming more and more affordable all the time.

The items required for videoconferencing to take place include a computer (a PC or Mac- either is fine), a webcam, software compression and finally, a broadband Internet connection. There are three types of videoconferencing available and all can be made use of in the adult industry. They are person-to-person, group videoconferencing or broadcast.

Person-to-person is the most basic to set up and use. With this type, two computers link up with each by way of a form of conferencing software (such as CU-SeeMe software). To videoconference in this way it is necessary to type the IP address of the person you wish to connect with. You will usually be taken to a private viewing room (very similar to a private chat room). This form of videoconferencing is often compared to calling someone up on the telephone.

The second type, group conference involves more interaction between the person and/or people on both ends. Each individual must go to a website that is privy to Reflector software. This connection can take place when the Reflectors IP address is typed in. The Reflector software as the name implies, takes the information it receives from one person and reflects or transmits it back to the person on the other end of the computer connection.

The third type of videoconferencing, that of broadcast videoconferencing, is a form of one way conferencing that is a great deal like watching a program on television. This form of videoconferencing can be transmitted to another person or set of people at one time and is very popular in the adult industry. Basically how it works is that one computer is required to run Reflector software and from this computer both audio and video clips are sent to all those connected at that moment, regardless of where they are located in the world.

Cyber sex is considered to be not just big money technology but also on the cutting edge and getting sharper with each passing day. For example the Playboy website received an estimated five million hits per day and no longer are there just explicit pictures to look at.

More and more newer websites that are cropping up in the adult industry allow cyber sex seekers to videoconference with the live models and engage in stimulating two-way conversations over a regular telephone line modem. For those interested in sex online it is becoming more and more like the real thing all of the time!