It was just a matter of time until someone invented smellavision. There have been various attempts.
With everything that has been happening with the development of smart glasses, virtual reality and augmented reality, experiences, in reality, are starting to become easier to recreate in the virtual world. Of course, there are a still the other senses, like touch and smell, that needs work but now with the release of the FEEL REAL VR Mask, we are one step closer to blurring the lines between reality and virtual reality. The system can add wind, hot air, water mist, vibration and smell effects to experience a full realistic presence in the virtual world.
From a human factors perspective, this mask does not look like it is comfortable to wear for a long period of time. Add an HTC Vive VR headset at the same time and you might look like a star trooper or bane.
But with most technology evolution, the design usually starts big and gets smaller and sleeker as it evolves. Eventually, a complete system might consist of a combination of contact lenses, nose strip and earpieces.
Imagine being able to smell the meal before you order it. Our recent post on augmented reality snapchat menus mixed with this mask, you give the user an experience before the real experience. “Prexperience. There are lots of commercial applications ( i.e. movies, theme parks) a mask like this, especially in advertising, can be applied but there might be even more in the professional streams.
A patient that suffered a traumatic experience ( like a house fire) can slowly recover from the incident with the use of these types of technologies.
For first responders training, being able to train in the virtual world is a cost-effective method of training and retraining various scenarios but the use of smell can add to the immersion. Smelling the fire and smoke in a firefighter training scenario changes the stress levels of the trainee.
To read more about feelreal, check out the link below.