Cam girls and erotic content creators tend to work from home, but the pandemic has forced some to share space with other family members.- To have more privacy while filming their work, erotic content platform CamSoda created plastic pods their creators can use for free.
- The pods are set up in a few warehouses across the country, and cleaned between uses. There are safety protocols for entering and exiting the pods.
Cam girls, or performers who create erotic content online, are used to creating sexy photos, videos, and live chats from their homes on a daily basis.
But for some, the pandemic has meant their families are home now, too, and the home-office privacy they once enjoyed is no longer an option.
Victoria Ives, who creates erotic content on the platform CamSoda, told Insider that it's been challenging to cam from home while her family is constantly around.
So when she heard the company was building individual plastic pods in warehouses where creators could film, she wondered if it could improve her work situation.
"On one hand, I was very excited to hear about a solution that would allow me to earn while staying safe. But on the other hand, after seeing so much
But after she tried a pod for herself, Ives, a 25-year-old Florida resident, was won over.
"Now I can be as loud as I want to be in the pod and really just get into my work mindset, knowing I don't have to worry about who else is there," Ives said.
Cam models need work-from-home solutions during the pandemic
According to CamSoda Vice President Daryn Parker, CamSoda has studios across the globe with individual rooms models can book for free and use to create content away from their homes. But in areas with fewer models, those studios don't exist.
In light of the pandemic, Parker started to get requests from CamSoda models who wanted new places to film, so the company bought abandoned warehouses and office spaces and filled them with four-walled plastic pods and air-removal systems that continuously cycle in fresh air to prevent coronavirus spread.
"In these warehouses with the pod setup, they can support up to 50 different stations, up and running simultaneously, and we can easily set up. They're pretty easy to scale up and down as needed," Parker told Insider.
There are protocols for entering a pod and using the bathroom
To use the pods, a CamSoda content creator can sign up for a spot online and arrive at the warehouse. There, a CamSoda talent rep takes them through various safety measures before they're in the pods and ready to work.
Ives said she and her talent manager both wore gloves and masks as they entered the warehouse together, and the manager took Ives' temperature and asked if she'd traveled lately.
(Though, as Insider reporter Hilary Brueck previously reported, temperature checks are a flawed safety measure because not everyone who has COVID-19 develops a fever. In fact, they could give people a false sense of security.)
The manager then led Ives to a room full of pods where other models were already filming. Spaced out strips of tape on the floor reminded everyone stay six feet apart.
Before entering her assigned pod, which a member of the cleaning staff sanitizes between uses, Ives went into a dressing room and changed into the lingerie and a robe she brought along.
Once a technology assistant made sure Ives' computer was hooked up to the internet, she closed the pod, took off her mask and got to work.
To use the bathroom during her three-hour session, Ives had to text the manager who initially brought her to the pod. Ives put her mask back on, and the manager escorted her to the bathroom.
"They waited outside until I was done and took me back to my pod," Ives said.
Each pod comes with a bed, and performers can bring their own props and toys
Inside Ives' pod was a fully made bed, but otherwise it was up to her to bring props and toys for her filming session. The bed sheets are washed after each model uses a pod, a CamSoda spokesperson told Insider.
"I brought a T-shirt and lingerie to change into, and few of my own toys, dildos, butt-plug, vibrator, stuff like that, with me," Ives said. "When we first scheduled my test show, they told me to bring whatever I want."
When Ives started filming in the pod, some viewers asked why her background looked so different, and she explained the situation.
"I told them it was taking some getting used to at first, but then I really got into the show and it seemed like they forgot I was in the pod too," she said.
Filming inside a plastic pod was strange at first, but ended up being a useful alternative to working from home
Though the pod-camming experience was out of the ordinary for Ives, she said working in the plastic cube was a great option for her current pandemic situation.
"For me, it took about 10 minutes to get used to during the show and then I completely tuned out the pod," Ives said.
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