The Bill Gates condom challenge is on and is looking for the world’s best protective device. Across all fields of science and technology – life sciences to consumer technology, everyone is abuzz as the famous billionaire philanthropist and icon of tech is putting out a call for what he labels as the “next generation condom.”

Written on its Grand Challenges website, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is offering a $100,000 startup grant to the company or individual who designs “the next generation condom that significantly preserves or enhances pleasure” as well as promotes “regular use.”

Although the media can find a humorous spin on the condom challenge presented by Bill Gates and his non-profit, the most well endowed (no pun intended) philanthropic organization in the world, the objective is urgent and serious.

Researchers call condoms one of the most effective ways to stop the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, but getting people to use them is another issue.

The foundation hopes to see a product that will lead men and women outside of a committed relationship to stop and think twice before having unprotected sex. Although the condom challenge begins with a $100,000 grant, it could go up to a $1 million in further rounds of funding.

"Male condoms are cheap, easy to manufacture, easy to distribute, and available globally, including in resource-poor settings, through numerous well-developed distribution channels. The current rate of global production is 15 billion units/year with an estimated 750 million users and a steadily growing market,” says on the foundation’s website.

However, they say that despite its supply and accessibility, the one “major drawback” to more constant of male condoms is the “lack of perceived incentive for consistent use.” The foundation shares that many are reluctant to use the current type of condoms available, complaining that the prophylactics interfere with pleasure and intimacy. “The primary drawback from the male perspective is that condoms decrease pleasure as compared to no condoms.” This type of thinking and concern creates “a trade-off that many men find unacceptable.”

There are even some cultures, due to misinformation and lack of education, that puts a stigma on men using condoms; condom use is seen as an indicator that a man has AIDS and many women won’t sleep with such men. Female condoms are even more difficult to use, with many women often afraid to suggest using them.

“Any advance or new design that gets people to use condoms would be a big plus,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and one of the world’s leading AIDS researchers, tells CNN. He says that although great progress have been made in treating HIV infection in Africa, for every person treated, two more become newly infected with the virus

The Gates Foundation hopes to make a dent in the area of encouraging increased and consistent condom use to decrease the spread of HIV/AIDS. It hopes that “new concept designs with new materials can be prototyped and tested quickly.”