Listen, we're all for new and exciting video game peripherals which lend themselves to sensory immersion, but -- well, we're not really crazy about the idea of total sensory immersion, you know? Nevertheless, a team of engineers at Birmingham University are working on a device that exposes gamers to context-sensitive scents during their gaming sessions.
The device, which uses a system of scented paraffin waxes and fans to simulate in-game smells, was partially funded by the Ministry of Defense for use in military training simulators, a fact that makes us equal parts uncomfortable and disappointed. Give us scented Cooking Mama over scented Call of Duty: World at War any day of the week.
That decades-long quest for olfactory accompaniment to your favourite game or video might finally be over.
That’s right, Smell-O-Vision is on its way later this year, and its name is ScentScape.
For a mere $US 70, you can hook up this toaster-like contraption from ScentSciences, and it will waft 20 different scents into your gaming lair. Trudging through a field of daisies on your way to your next battle? You’ll experience it through your nose, too. Do you love the smell of napalm in the morning? The scent of victory can be yours, right there in your home theatre.
The various scents must be programmed into games, but California-based ScentSciences thought of that as well, including ScentEditor, an editing app that allows users to create their own scents and share them with other players.
ScentScape is not only aimed at gaming, but it can be adapted to home videos. This must be part of the march toward complete realism in the realm of home entertainment. After all, if you have 3D video, you might as well try to accompany that with 7.1 surround sound — and now Smell-O-Vision, right? Necessary or not, after the long and checkered past of the Smell-O-Vision idea, this must be the most advanced attempt yet.
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