Johannesburg: Bill Gates has revealed that the development of "next-generation" ultra-thin condoms to enhance sexual pleasure is in progress.
The 58-year-old philanthropist said that there are some technological materials that will be able to maintain a (condom) barrier with a very thin material, News24.com reported.
Gates added that Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, through which the Microsoft co-founder and one of the world's richest men offered inventors 100 000 dollars in start-up grants for the development of condom in 2013, had received a lot of proposals from inventors.
The Seattle-based foundation has given one grant of 100 000 dollars to the University of Manchester to research a condom using graphene, a super-light conducive material.
Another 100 000 dollars grant has gone to the University of Oregon for creating a polyurethane condom that would create a seal around the penis and be less than half the thickness of the best condoms available now.
The aim would be to "enhance the pleasure" so as to encourage more couples to use condoms, preventing pregnancy and helping avert spread of sexually transmitted viruses such as HIV.
