VR Gets the Smell-O-Vision Treatment from a Japanese Startup

Introducing the power of smell into media has been something attempted by many in the past, all without much success. From the Sensorama, to Smell-O-Vision cinema to scratch-and-sniff video games, the ability to immerse audiences with more than just sight and sound has remained elusive.

VR itself also lacks anything to stimulate this particular sense, at least until now. VR startup VAQSO think they may have cracked the problem with their scent concept device, which has recently received $600 000 in funding.

A Nose for Business

Since VR headsets are already in proximity to the nose, it stands to reason that you could attach something to it that produces smells.

Unlike headphones or LCD screens, we don’t yet have something that can synthesise any smell the way that one can synthesise pictures and sounds. Instead it has to make use of a limited palette (and supply) of chemical substances.

The machine that VAQSO is proposing attached to existing HMDs as a little module. A software plugin then regulates when the smells in question should be triggered.

The module will contain chambers for three types of smell and a fan system that varies the intensity of each.

It’s already slated to be compatible with the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PSVR. That covers the bulk of the current HMD market.

The Power of Smell

While it may seem like a bit of a gimmick, integrating smell into a VR experience has the potential to make it both much more intense and much more immersive. It’s one of those odd facts about human psychology and biology that smells are one of the strongest memory and emotion triggers.

Just a whiff of your mum’s perfume or the polish you used on your first car can bring thoughts and feelings of those times flooding back.

Given the power of smell there must be a horde of game developers and (especially) marketing people just chomping at the bit to find another way audiences can have their senses saturated.

Smells Familiar

While VAQSO is a new company, the main person behind it has a past replete with smells of all sorts. Kentaro Kawaguchi has been working on products that help promote businesses using smells for years.

This is of course a whole different kettle of fish, which supposedly you could now also smell. Creating a software plugin and getting wide industry buy in for your specific solution is a tall order.

The history of smell “enhancements” to media is also one littered with failures. Even reproductions of pleasant smells can end up being disgusting or just unpleasant, so VAQSO certainly has their work cut out for them. If they can pull it off however, we guess we’ll smell them later.

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