Vermont tech firm believes to experience the metaverse, you have to smell it too

Vermont tech firm believes to experience the metaverse, you have to smell it too

Transcript¹

OVR Technology in Burlington has developed a way to incorporate smell into virtual reality. This modern day "Smell-O-Vision" could have far-reaching applications in gaming, health and wellness.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

How would you like to have the smell of fresh cut flowers on demand, or how about the smell of garbage, if you're into that? Well, that could soon be a thing. The virtual reality market is expanding rapidly, and more technology could go into those VR headsets. As Mikaela Lefrak from Vermont Public Radio reports, some tech entrepreneurs are trying to make the metaverse feel even more real by incorporating the sense of smell.

MIKAELA LEFRAK, BYLINE²: At the headquarters of OVR Technology in Burlington, Vt., smell is king. Co-founder and CEO Aaron Wisniewski is a perfume maker³ turned tech entrepreneur. He shows me his company's invention.

AARON WISNIEWSKI: This right here is the technology. And you can see it's maybe the size of a candy bar. So the cartridge⁴ just clips in.

LEFRAK: Inside the cartridge are vials of scents⁶ manufactured at the OVR lab.

WISNIEWSKI: That's fresh lemon. This is an herb garden.

LEFRAK: He snaps the cartridge onto a virtual headset, which, if you've never seen one, looks like a massive pair of ski goggles⁷. I pull the whole device over my eyes and nose and enter the metaverse. A flower box full of roses appears in front of me. I lean over, pick one and sniff⁸.

Oh, wow. That's so cool. It really smells like a rose.

It's a bit like a modern-day Smell-O-Vision, Hollywood's attempt from the '50s and '60s to incorporate scent⁵ into movies. A machine would pump odors into movie theaters corresponding with the action on screen, like the smell of gun smoke during a shootout. Smell-O-Vision never really worked that well. The different smells would linger and mix together.

But Hollywood was on to something. Judith Amores is a research fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School focused on scent and virtual reality. She explains our sense of smell helps us feel fully⁹ present in a place and create memories.

JUDITH AMORES: The smell of your grandma or, like, you know, the particular perfume of, like, someone. I think those are very, very powerful. It's not the same, just seeing the image.

LEFRAK: Reproducing real world odors in a lab is a challenge. Amores says people are surprisingly good at sniffing¹⁰ out and dismissing artificial scents.

AMORES: Wow. You know, we think that dogs are amazing at smelling. Humans are really - really are. I mean, we can smell 1 trillion different kinds of smells. We truly have a superpower.

LEFRAK: Not all the smells in a virtual reality experience are going to be as pleasant as a rose. I'm reminded of that by Sarah Socia, who develops smells for VR. She shows me some of her vials of scents.

SARAH SOCIA: We have urine, garbage, diesel¹¹ fuel, gunpowder¹², blood, dirt, feces.

LEFRAK: OK, this is a weird¹³ question, but can I smell garbage?

SOCIA: OK (laughter).

LEFRAK: Oh, yeah. Yup. That's garbage. Cool.

It's easy to laugh about these malodors, as they're called, but they have important applications. They can be used in training simulations for soldiers or first responders.

The market for this virtual reality scent technology is still pretty young, but the VR market as a whole is growing rapidly right now. Wisniewski and his team think that someday scent is going to be just as integral to VR headsets as audio technology is to a smartphone. That's because he believes to really experience the metaverse, you don't just see it or hear it. You have to smell it, too.

For NPR News in Burlington, I'm Mikaela Lefrak.

(SOUNDBITE OF ONI AYHUN'S "OAR003-A")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

4 cartridge   

n.弹壳，弹药筒；(装磁带等的)盒子

参考例句：

• Unfortunately the 2G cartridge design is very difficult to set accurately.不幸地2G弹药筒设计非常难正确地设定。
• This rifle only holds one cartridge.这支来复枪只能装一发子弹。

5 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。

6 scents   

n.香水( scent的名词复数 )；气味；（动物的）臭迹；（尤指狗的）嗅觉

参考例句：

• The air was fragrant with scents from the sea and the hills. 空气中荡漾着山和海的芬芳气息。
• The winds came down with scents of the grass and wild flowers. 微风送来阵阵青草和野花的香气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 goggles   

n.护目镜

参考例句：

• Skiers wear goggles to protect their eyes from the sun.滑雪者都戴上护目镜使眼睛不受阳光伤害。
• My swimming goggles keep steaming up so I can't see.我的护目镜一直有水雾，所以我看不见。

8 sniff   

vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视

参考例句：

• The police used dogs to sniff out the criminals in their hiding - place.警察使用警犬查出了罪犯的藏身地点。
• When Munchie meets a dog on the beach, they sniff each other for a while.当麦奇在海滩上碰到另一条狗的时候，他们会彼此嗅一会儿。

9 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

10 sniffing   

n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• We all had colds and couldn't stop sniffing and sneezing. 我们都感冒了，一个劲地抽鼻子，打喷嚏。
• They all had colds and were sniffing and sneezing. 他们都伤风了，呼呼喘气而且打喷嚏。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

11 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

12 gunpowder   

n.火药

参考例句：

• Gunpowder was introduced into Europe during the first half of the 14th century.在14世纪上半叶，火药传入欧洲。
• This statement has a strong smell of gunpowder.这是一篇充满火药味的声明。

13 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。