A new USB peripheral that emits smells is about to hit the PC market and the console version is ‘in the works’. Developed by Scent Sciences Corporation, the machine plugs in to your gaming device of choice and when triggered will emit one of up to twenty different fragrances including pine forest, ocean and smoke.
ScentScape will be released for the PC by the end of the year and will retail in the US for $69.99 with additional cartridges clocking in at $24 each. The product has only been demonstrated on the PC but Scent Sciences Corporation say it will be “compatible with all major formats”.
Each cartridge should last around 200 hours and will have a ‘volume control’ to allow personal preference of pong strength.
Whilst ‘pine forest’ may be an excellent choice for games such as World of Warcraft, I’m wondering if they may have to adjust the twenty inbuilt pongs for the console market. For example, Call of Duty would benefit from aromas of sweat, oil, gunpowder and napalm and Dante’s Inferno would require vomit, bile and decomposing corpses. Yum.
Source: MCV / Scentscape
3shirts
I’m guessing the range is pretty much limited to the kinds of smells they are able to simulate at the moment. Going by those bullshit glade adverts I look forward to diamond, open windows and stone!
carson321
its possible to simulate almost any smell you can think of wuite easily, scents are just chemicals after all! (think of all those Yankee Candles, they are pretty acurate fragrances!)
SpikeyMikey23
Wha??? this is a joke right? right?…. Wonder what smells they would use for GOW’s sex scenes ;)
bunimomike
Shame and dollar bills.
SpikeyMikey23
I smelt that recently in a vegas strip club! ;)
bunimomike
To be honest, fella, you looked great on stage and did everything I asked for.
nemesisND1derboy
Fish… :P
kevatron400
Ha! Amazing. The future is now. I can’t wait for the gaming scenes that involve toast.
52pickup
So if I play a crap game,will it emit the smell of s**t? lol.
3shirts
The box does say ‘not for use with Naughty Bear’
beeje13
‘personal preference of pong strength.’ wow, they’re really taking this seriously aren’t they?
Foxhound_Solid
I remember reading an interview with Hideo Kojima and he said he would love next gen consoles to do this, or things like this.
The mind boggles….
Imagine jacking your PS3 into your home so your surrounding could be adjusted to match the games environments. You know, temperature, lights, sounds, feel, smell.
It would be cool but costly…
The Solid one
eww, i don’t want to smell burning corpses, rotting corpses and overrated crap. If a game has a sewer level would that mean you end up with the smell of crap? This is one of the worst ideas i have ever heard of.
citizeninsane45
yes but imagine being in a chocolate factory level………….
bunimomike
How the hell is that supposed to override the stench of “rotting gamer”? Lasting way longer than 200 hours and with multiple ports to output a myriad of smells.
4lf13
My room already smells like most of those combined, so I’m out.
YOURMUMANDME
You live in a tree-boat with a clay pipe !? ;D
TSBonyman
Not this again, you could buy devices like this about 10-15 yrs ago. Recreate the smell of a log fire – ie something burning.