A collaboration between Stockholm University and Malmö University has led to the creation of a brand new technology, which enables to smell in a virtual reality environment (VR). The recent machine, known as olfactometer, might be printed on 3D printers.
Research was financed by Marianna and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation and published within the International Journal of Human – Computer Studies.
Jonas Olofsson is a professor of psychology and head of the research project on the Stockholm University.
“We hope that the brand new technical possibilities will result in scents playing a more essential role in game development,” says Olofsson.
Development of a fragrance machine
Computer games have traditionally focused on what we are able to see, similar to B. moving images on screens and never in other senses. But that changes. The interdisciplinary research group developed a fragrance machine that might be controlled by a gaming computer. The participant moves in a virtual wine cellar in the sport and collects virtual wine glasses with various kinds of wine. The participant does this and guess the flavors.
The fragrance machine is attached to the controller of the VR system. When the player lifts the glass, he releases a fragrance.
Simon Niedenthal is an interaction and game researcher at Malmö University.
“The possibility of overlapping a passive to a more energetic smell in the sport world paves the way in which for the event of completely recent odor mechanics based on the movements and judgments of the players,” says Niedenthal.
Construction of the olfactometer
The olfactometer has 4 different valves, each connected to 1 channel. The middle comprises a fan that sucks air right into a tube. The computer enables the player to regulate the 4 channels that open to different degrees and supply different mixtures of scents. The fragrance mixture ahms the complexity of the actual wine, and the sport has different levels of difficulty based on complexity.
“In the identical way as a standard computer game becomes tougher, the higher the player. The fragrance can even challenge players who have already got a sensitive nose. This implies that the fragrance machine may even be used for training wine tasters or perfumes,” says Olofsson.
The team has published all of the codes, blueprints and directions for the pc online in addition to the code for virtual tasting games. The research group now hopes that fragrant computer games can expand their applications.
“For those that have lost their sense of smell based on Covid-19 or for other reasons, the brand new technology can mean a chance to regain their sense of smell with the assistance of a game-based training,” says Olofsson.
“I hope that the indisputable fact that drawings and code as” open source “are openly available will result in a way for game corporations to create recent, industrial products for fragrances with the brand new technology,” he continues.
Simon Niedenhal says that the open source aspect of the technology contributes to promoting the accessibility, reproducibility and comparison of the outcomes. It also helps construct a research and design community in game development.
“But it also implies that the fee of the equipment is greatly reduced, which more people make available. This is vital,” says Niedenthal.
“We imagine in open science that research results needs to be made available to the general public and that other researchers should find a way to repeat our results. With the assistance of our research, other fragrance machines can construct up and examine recent possibilities for using scents in games,” adds Olofsson.
