Full sensory immersive worlds are the holy grail of games and simulations. The newly-patented Scent Collar is a personal scent release device for use by an individual in a virtual environment simulation and can provide several scents for use during the experience. Each unique scent is contained in an individual cartridge embedded in a wearable collar.
According to inventor Jacki Morie, an ICT project leader who both designed the collar and oversaw its development, one of the problems this invention was designed to solve was that earlier scent release systems would fill up a whole room with the smell and it was difficult to remove effectively.
“By keeping the amounts to a minimum, and directing the scents directly towards the nose, there is no problem with lingering scents,” she said.
The collar has been used in ICT’s virtual reality environments to increase the emotional realism, and in an experiment designed to test the effects of scent and game play on memory of a virtual environment.
The prototype was fabricated by Anthrotronix, Inc. The co-inventor is Donat-Pierre Luigi.
ICT Scent Collar Wins Patent
Published: March 31, 2009
Category: News