Just Because You Can, Doesn't Mean You Should: Tech Company Unveils AI-Powered 'Smell-O-Vision'
For as long as cinema has existed, people have tried to add additional dimensions to the traditional viewing experience.
Obviously, most people are familiar with entertainment’s foray into 3D viewing.
To put it mildly, the 3D viewing experience can be a mixed bag depending on a litany of factors, such as screen size or 3D glasses heft.
There’s another dimension, not discussed nearly as much, that entertainment has occasionally dabbled in — to nowhere near the same level of success.
And that’s smell.
Now, in 2024, despite those past failures, it appears a new company is trying to take another nasal stab at this “fourth dimension.”
GameScent is a new AI-powered device that will help video game players smell what they’re seeing on-screen.
The external unit is able to interpret what is happening in the game, which then triggers the appropriate smell.
Given that, the available scents are a medley of classic video game effects, including:
- Gunfire
- Explosion
- Racing cars
- Ocean
- Sports arena
There are two additional scents worth calling out on their own.
The first is the peculiar “blood” scent.
GameScent offers the following blurb about that scent: “Prepare for intense brutal battles of combat. Immerse yourself in the bold and metallic essence, adding raw intensity of virtual horror.”
Given how bloody some games can be, like the Grand Theft Auto series of games, that metallic odor of blood could get very overwhelming, very quickly.
The other scent worth calling out is no scent at all.
Yes, just in case you were wondering how a gamer might deal with the smell of billowing smoke in their room, there is a “clean air” scent meant to “neutralize” whatever lingering odors might still be wafting in the game area.
It remains to be seen how successful GameScent can or will be, but the track record for this sort of media is hardly inspiring, to say the least.
The most famous application of scent-based media consumption came in 1960 with the critically maligned “Scent of Mystery.”
That film, which was produced by “Smell-O-Vision” pioneer Mike Todd Jr., infamously tried to make various scents integral to the plot of the film.
Moviegoers not only complained about the obtrusive hissing noise the “Smell-O-Vision” made during the movie but also the fact that if you were seated further back, the smell might not reach you in time before the plot moved forward.
If none of that has raised your doubts, you can purchase a GameScent for $149.99 currently, which connects to consoles, PCs and virtual reality units.
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