Wireless Olfactory Feedback System Lets You Smell Things in Virtual Reality

JumpMod haptic backpack lets you feel jumps in virtual reality, while this wireless olfactory feedback system developed by researchers at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) gives you a sense of smell. The first design is a skin-integrated, patch-like device comprising two miniaturized odor generators (OGs), which can be directly mounted on the human upper lip.

How do the OGs work? Heating and melting odorous paraffin wax on them cause a phase change, which means different odors of adjustable concentration are released. To stop odors, the OGs cool the temperature of the wax by controlling the motion of the thermal actuator. The next-generation olfaction system will feature a shorter response time, smaller size, and higher integration density for VR, AR and mixed reality (MR) applications.

Recent human machine interfaces highlight the importance of human sensation feedback, including vision, audio and haptics, associated with wide applications in entertainment, medical treatment and VR/AR. However, the current olfaction-generating technologies are associated mainly with big instruments to generate odours in a closed area or room, or an in-built bulky VR set,” said Dr Yu Xinge, Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at CityU.