If you've ever wanted to see the "Smell-o-Vision" concept come to your video games, you're in luck— GameScent, a product from Elevated Perceptions, may be just what you're looking for. Using A.I. that analyzes the gameplay of the title you're playing, the GameScent is able to emit aerosol scents that correspond to whatever's happening on your screen.
Eventually, the GameScent is set to allow more than just the six scents that come pre-packaged with the device, since each "scent" comes in the form of a cartridge that you have to insert into the unit for it to operate.
Here are the initial six scents:
- Clean Air — Meant as an air/scent purifier after other cartridges have been used/you're finished watching or playing.
- Explosion
- Forest
- Gun Fire
- Racing
- Storm
And here are some planned for the future:
- Blood — Depending on how they duplicate this, could be truly nauseating.
- Fresh Cut Grass — Oh hey, Green Leaf Volatiles (GLVs) like you get from cutting grass! Probably, anyway.
- Ocean
- Sports Arena
Besides using scent cartridges, GameScent achieves its desired effect by using AI to analyze the footage of your gameplay (via HDMI passthrough)— or even a movie, should you wish to use GameScent as your own personal smell-o-vision for non-gaming content.
GameScent is currently available on Amazon for $149.99 at the time of writing, before taxes or shipping costs are applied.
This isn't the first attempt at providing an at-home "4D" experience. For example, the Whirlwind FX "Vortx" is pretty much just a combination heater-and-fan that adjusts the temperature based on what's onscreen in the game you're currently playing.
Meanwhile, TechSpot mentions three other examples: a South Park game fart-smell accessory, a VR mask that can support up to 9 of 255 available scents, and even an impressive VR arcade cabinet originally covered by Engadget.
As the latest entrant into the market of peripherals hoping to provide a "4D" experience, time will tell whether GameScent becomes an industry staple or is eventually lost to history, like most quirky peripherals are.
