OVR Technology has introduced an accessory for VR headsets that provides an appropriate “aromatic experience”
Smell is essential to the metaverse,said Sara Sosia, vice president of OVR, because it is "the only sense that is directly connected to the limbic system, the part of the brain critical to memory and emotion."
The Vermont startup also has a prototype of another device that can store scent cartridges created by users through a mobile app.
The Japanese digital fragrance technology company Aromajoin is also betting that the metaverse will be a place of many scents.
“It’s like before smartphones, we didn’t know how big a role they would play in our lives,” Aromajoin’s Sunghun Cho said about fragrances in the virtual world.
What other VR technologies were presented at CES:
Indian company AjnaLens believes thatAn immersive online experience can help address unemployment and skilled labor shortages. The company has developed the AjnaXR mixed reality headset (virtual and augmented), which is lighter than existing models, so it can be comfortably worn for several hours. Businesses are using it to teach workers how to use tools for jobs like welding and painting, adding joysticks or tactile gloves that give hands-on experience.
"Virtual reality has multiple effects on the part of the brain where you store things for life," Pankaj Raut, co-founder of AjnaLens, told AFP.
French startup SocialDream has also developedown mixed reality headset adapted to the content of the virtual world - images that stimulate memory in patients with Alzheimer's disease.
Founder Thierry Gricourt said he wanted to project video "in a bubble".
His prototype, called Dreamsense, "does not adhere to the face, and the lenses do not hurt the eyes," Grikur said. “And there will be sensors that measure emotions in real time.”
At this stage, the Oculus metablock and competing HTC VR headsets are still primarily used for gaming.
The CTA expects that this year in the United States3.1 million VR headsets will be sold, up 20% from 2022, and sales of augmented reality glasses are expected to double to over 380,000.
For now, companies seem to be more enthusiastic about the technology than non-player consumers.
Red 6 is testing an augmented reality system to train fighter pilots without the cost and risk of real flight.
“Right now, the metaverse is a kind ofproblem-solving solution,” said Red 6 founder Daniel Robinson. “What we did is the exact opposite. We have found a really compelling use case for the technology by addressing some of the critical issues that really need to be addressed.”
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