As a not-inconsiderable number of men end up turning to robots for sexual gratification and companionship, it appears that some of them actually want their partners to resemble real people, including those who are no longer among the living, the Daily Star reports.
According to the newspaper, RealDoll founder Matt McMullen delivered this reveal at a panel called "Sex Robots: Are We Ready?" hosted by Raspberry Dream Labs.
"I've been doing this a long time and I've obviously got the same policy, which is that I will not make a copy of another human without expressed consent from them", he said. "I've been approached more times than you can imagine to make a copy of this actress, or here's a picture of my girlfriend that left me. Even a dead celebrity, I'd never touch that because for me that's an ethical line."
He stressed that he doesn’t think "it would be right to make copies of someone without their permission dead or alive", and that he considers this issue "pretty black and white" rather than some kind of grey area.
The newspaper also noted that while McMullen did not specify the likenesses of what celebrities his prospective customers were interested in, a sex doll manufacturer called True Companion said in 2017 that the most popular request they received was for the appearance of Marilyn Monroe.
