The new series asking Aussie contestants to bare all

A controversial matchmaking show asking Australian couples to undress each other will be produced later this year as part of an "educational" social experiment.

Participating contestants will forgo the formalities of dinner, drinks and clothes and jump straight into bed with a total stranger.

Having received rave reviews in the UK and Italy where it originated, Undressed has been picked up by SBS in the hopes an Australian counterpart will be as successful.

The network said in a statement the new show will "explore cultural diversity and preconceptions about race and sexuality, challenging both viewer and contributor prejudices."

The premise of the series is based on "psychological research" where the two strangers will be encouraged to engage in 30-minutes of pillow talk to see if there's a spark.

In the Italian version contestants are given tablets with 'yes or no' on the screens, which they use to decide whether or not to stay in bed or get dressed and leave.

Unsurprisingly, the show has been lambasted as "sensationalised porn" across social media.

"I guess sex sells," wrote on user on YouTube.

"We are in complete decay television," wrote another in YouTube comments.

Undressed is not the first series to launch under the ambiguous banner of a "social experiment."

The UK series Sex Box, which debuted in 2013, also claims to be a social experiment, to find out if couples can have sex in a box.

No date has been set for the series launch.