News Feeling the metaverse is now possible thanks to this new technology.
Published on 01/11/2023 at 16:20
Today, the metaverse is often singled out for its lack of realism, resulting in sub-optimal immersion for its users. With this new scent technology in the virtual world, everything could change.
Experiments with the senses in a fully virtual world were, at the time, limited to Hollywood sci-fi films such as Ready Player One. However, today the synopsis is getting closer and closer to reality.
On the occasion of the technology fair CES in Las Vegas from January 5 to 8, the American company OVR presented an amazing virtual reality headset. This allows you to really smell the virtual world!
The scent technology is presented as a virtual reality headset accessory. The rectangular object attaches under the VR headset and allows scents to be diffused up to the user’s nose. These chemical scents are triggered automatically based on your avatar’s location in the digital environment.
To test the helmet, some were able to experience a virtual hike by smelling the smoke from an all-digital campfire with a slight scent of roasted marshmallows.
Another step towards the Internet of feelings
This initiative brings us a little closer to the concept of the “Internet of Feelings”. Envisioned as a revolution for the next few years, the term is defined by immersing our 5 senses in digital technology. Specifically, the end goal is to physically experience our virtual experience for maximum realism.
At the moment, the most developed senses in the digital world are sight and hearing. Thus, many companies are looking to integrate touch, taste or even smell into the digital world. In this logic, the Internet of Feelings seems to be the way to go in order for the metaverse to gain coherence and interest. According to the OVR, the sense of smell is an important part of development, since this sense requires exactly memory and memories – enough to remember one’s passage through the metaverse.
In addition, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, which started the universal metaverse project, is actively working on this topic. Through the Meta Reality Labs R&D group, the group has been testing tactile gloves that can reproduce the sensation of touch for over a year now.
When combined with other technologies, the OVR accessory can lead to confusion in the metaverse. Last year, an American research institute developed a virtual reality headset accessory that can replicate the touch of lips.
Thus, all that remains is to look into the taste in order to be able to taste his first meal in the metaverse – even if at the moment the development of this sense seems to have lagged behind others.