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OhRoma

By pop need, the just thing missing from the VR version of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is the smell of rotting corpse. At present fifty-fifty that could alter, thank you to the Tokyo-based startup Vaqso that is working to incorporate the sense of smell into virtual reality. In a story about VR haptics a few weeks agone, I surmised that aroma was still pretty far outside the scope of VR applied science know-how. In a testament to the frenzied pace of innovation, simply a short while later nosotros now have multiple companies staking ground in this once uncharted frontier.

While Vaqso may be one of the savvier companies to tackle VR smell, it is by no means the only player. Another early contribution comes from the OhRoma device, brainchild of the erotic website CamSoda. The OhRoma attempts to bring smell to watchers of CamSoda's streaming online cam library. And in true pornographic mode, the OhRoma is zip y'all'd desire to exist caught wearing in public. Resembling something from an apocalyptic biohazard outfit, the OhRoma straps around your head similar a gas mask and looks as clunky equally it is unseemly. It'due south equipped with two sent cartridges that combine to give characters in the VR world their unique odour profile.

Vaqso

The Vaqso smell generator seen hither attached to the bottom of a VR headset. Image Source: Vaqso

Compared with the OhRoma, Vaqso's offering is nuanced and understated. The Vaqso scent generator is roughly the size of a large candy bar and attaches direct to an existing VR headset. Information technology as well boasts three aroma cartridges instead of two, assuasive for a greater range of smells. This shouldn't exist surprising, because it was developed by i of the leading lights at a Japanese visitor manufacturing high-quality fragrances for restaurants. The Vaqso device will likewise come equipped with a pocket-size embedded fan to strengthen or diminish the aroma according to your location within the VR environment. While there is no official release date as still, a consumer-facing version of the device is slated for launch later in the year.

Taking this technology a step further are the folks at FeelReal. FeelReal is currently a Kickstarter entity, and then there's niggling assurance they will ever make it to market, merely its take on VR smell has to exist i of the most ambitious. The FeelReal paradigm VR mask attaches directly to the VR screen like the Vaqso, omitting the need for split head attachments, and comes with seven different smell cartridges. These were developed by professional perfumers who chose from a big number of scents to find the ones that would all-time fit environments found within a large number of video games and movies. These include things like the smell of fire, the sea, and gunpowder.

FeelReal device

The FeelReal immersion mask consummate with odour generator and microheating/cooling elements. Epitome Source: FealReal

Only what separates the FeelReal device from the rest of the pack is the addition of pocket-sized microheating and microcooling elements that provide the sensation of cold and warm breezes confronting one'due south face. This is in addition to a microionizer that emits water vapor, providing that feeling of damp mist rising off the jungle floor or a World of Warcraft ogre animate hotly upon your face. [And I'd desire that why exactly? -Ed] Couple the FeelReal mask with the HaptX exoskeleton from AxonVR, a robotic arm that one hangs from in space while exploring VR worlds, and you are looking at an experience just shy of The Matrix. If FeelReal can actually build and sell information technology.