The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations is offering $100,000 to the most innovative development in condoms.

Okay, if you said “ew” you’re not alone. It’s a little bit creepy thinking about Bill Gates thinking about your junk and wanting you to have better sex, but that’s probably nothing $100,000 can’t fix, particularly if you’ve got any skills in working with latex. And even if you’re not the scientist who’s going to revolutionize condoms, chances are at some point, you’re going to benefit from the innovation.

The Gates are interested in seeing condoms get an upgrade so that they’re more fun and pleasurable, and ultimately a more appealing use of birth and disease control for sexually active couples throughout the world. With a new design and packaging, the goal is for men in particular to find condoms less as an interference with sexual pleasure and more of an enhancement. The use of condoms, says the Foundation, improves public health and reduces the rate of unwanted pregnancies and STDs (gonorrhea is now essentially antibiotic resistant).

If there seems to be little left in the way of innovation when it comes to the condom, the Gates are inspired ORIGAMI condoms that are made from silicone and offer varieties for women and men (and for receiving anal sex). For men, the condom has an accordion-like shape and is designed to enhance pleasure.

Could you imagine wearing a cloth condom? Inhabitat reports that bioengineers at the University of Washington have been developing a ” super-fine cloth that slowly releases spermicides and anti-HIV drugs.”

To learn more about the competition, visit the Gates’ website.

Keep in touch with Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

Image: Hey Paul Studios

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