Olfactometer

2022: Device Announcement

On October 13, 2022, Stockholm University (Sweden) announced the development of a device that allows you to smell in virtual space. Specialists from the University of Malmö took part in the creation of the so-called olfactometer, and funding was provided by the Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation.

The relatively compact gadget consists of four tanks with aromatic components. These tanks are equipped with valves that can open at different angles to mix substances in certain proportions. In the central part of the device there is a fan that supplies the generated smell to the tube - its user brings it to the nose. The operation of the olfactometer is monitored through a computer.

Odors learned to be added to virtual reality

To demonstrate the possibilities of development, the researchers created a game in which the main character acts as a wine taster. The user moves around the virtual bodega, collecting wine bags with different drinks. By smell, you need to guess the variety of wine - points are awarded for the correct answers. There are several levels of complexity.

{{quote 'The ability to move from a passive sense of smell to a more active one in the game world paves the way for the development of a completely new game mechanics based on the smells and judgments of users. We hope that new technical capabilities will lead to the fact that odors will play a more important role in the development of games, - say the project participants. }} Drawings and instructions for creating a device, as well as all program code, are freely available on the Internet. Thus, anyone can reproduce the gadget: to obtain the necessary details, you can use a 3D printer.

The researchers note that the proposed technology will be useful not only in games and virtual reality, but also in the medical field. The system can be used, for example, for the rehabilitation of patients who have lost their sense of smell as a result of past diseases, in particular, coronavirus. ^[1]

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