Not all the smells of a virtual reality experience are going to be as pleasant as those of a rose, says Sarah Socia, vice president of scentware at OVR. On a recent day of work in the laboratory, he filled small bottles with clear, spicy liquids and warned visitors not to smell. Some of the most unusual scents will be in the Land pavilion at Epcot Center. Here, visitors will experience tropical vegetation, rainforests, deserts; some of the large terrain found on Earth.
Of course, Disney's “Imagineers” plan to supply all the appropriate smells. Guests traveling through an agricultural scene may detect a faint animal smell. In another scene, a field of orange trees will smell like the real tree. Yet another effect requires the smell of damp earth.
Smell-O-Vision was a system created in 1960 by Hans Laube, and was used in theaters during the film “Scent of Mystery”. The system links “physical odors to a synthetic virtual reality environment” and brings the concept of “Smell-O-Vision” to the 21st century. Rob Dyer, president of Eidos Interactive, says that the demo package has convinced him that smell has enormous possibilities; Eidos programmers are already playing with the smell of Lara Croft. According to a survey conducted in Virginia, more than half of those surveyed said that life felt less pleasant after losing their sense of smell or taste.
With the new system, viewers could watch a movie on their home television and smell the same pine forest or the same cloud of gunpowder as the character on the screen. Developers from the University of Stockholm and the University of Malmö said that they have created a smell machine, or olfactometer, that allows you to smell in virtual reality environments. In the photo, American film producer Mike Todd Jr (left) sits with Laube, who points to his “Smell-O-Vision” machine, which was used in the 1960 film “Scent of Mystery”, produced by Todd. Keep in mind that mixed reality does not take place exclusively in the physical world or in the virtual world, but is rather a hybrid reality that includes physical and virtual elements.
It contains liquid scents that are directed to the nostrils at various times during a game while wearing a virtual reality mask. In the game, users can pick up a glass of wine to smell the contents of the virtual world, while in the real world they simply hold the specially adapted HTC Vive in their hand. The researchers found that the addition of smells significantly increased people's sense of presence in the gaming environment. All the code, blueprints and instructions for the machine are publicly available online, as is the code for the virtual wine tasting game.
It contains liquid scents that are directed to the nostrils at various times during the game while wearing a virtual reality (VR) mask. A machine would pump smells into movie theaters corresponding to the on-screen action, such as the smell of gun smoke during a shooting. In the game, users can pick up a glass of wine to smell the contents of the virtual world, while in the real world they simply hold the specially adapted HTC Vive (pictured) in their hand.
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