

Smell your games. Good idea, or good reason it's failed so many times? - dholowiski
http://www.gizmag.com/scentscape-system-adds-smells-to-games-and-videos/17615/

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nickolai
I am not sure how this could work out for the people who live with the player.

Video images are pretty non-intrusive - if they annoy you, just dont look at
the screen. For sound/music, the player could put headphones and annoy no one
but himself. I have a hard time imagining some sort of headphones for the nose
to limit the sensory input to the player only. And i definitely won't dare
wearing anything that comes to my mind.

And yeah, I'm sure your SO would go nuts at the smell of burnt flesh and
gasoline coming out of the gadget box waay faster than at the faint sound
coming out of the headset.

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JacobAldridge
I imagine there's a chicken-and-egg phenomenon at work here - until there are
a number of games with scents the gadget won't attract a large number of
gamers, and until it attracts a large number of gamers there won't be
incentive for a number of game developers to add scents.

If / When it works as a business, it will likely involve some kind of key
relationship with a large distributor of either games or gamers. If Microsoft
said 'the Kinect rocked, and the next thing we're doing is launching
ScentScape' it would motivate developers; if Blizzard said 'we're adding
ScentScape capability to the next WoW release' then a lot of gamers would go
buy it.

Launching it independently of either channel is difficult.

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dholowiski
Difficult, sure, but all that Valve needs to do is announce "Portal 3, I can
smell the Cake" and throw in a free ScentScape (with starter smell cartridge)
with the deluxe boxed set, and it's mainstream on launch day.

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JacobAldridge
I think that was kinda my point as well - if a developer or 'gamer
distributor' (like MSFT or Sony) supported the product, it would avoid the
chicken-and-egg problem. In their absence, it would be difficult.

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Semiapies
I don't believe anyone will make smell-immersion practical without sending
direct input into the olfactory nerves.

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aberkowitz
There reaches a point in virtual reality where increased realism becomes
undesirable. In my opinion, smell-o-vision is that point.

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tdoggette
"What's that smell?" isn't a great start to a conversation about a neat new
gadget that you just bought.

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benologist
Interesting stuff, but I'm pretty sure I already know what my games smell
like, and it ain't flowers.

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bitwize
Wario Ware: Smell Ya Later!

Though by the looks of him I don't think I want to smell Wario.

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TheSOB88
I think this could add a _lot_ for immersion, but there are a lot of problems
with the scent medium. It's your body detecting particles, not waves.
Particles linger, so it's not like the smell's going to go away.

Say you're in a burning village in a game, and the ScentScape releases burnt-
carbon molecules. Wow, a real burning village! I'm immersed! Then you ride
your FantasyHorse to the next kingdom to warn their king of the impending
attack. Except the burnt-carbon's still in the air, and you get this weird mix
of regal smell and burnt village smell.

I really think they'll have to use a different mechanism for this to work - a
small mask, perhaps. Or perhaps timed-Febreze particles.

