Key findings
- MovieScent brings olfactory vision into your home, immersing you in scenes with scents of freshly cut grass and restaurants.
- The AI-powered device syncs with what you’re watching and releases scents like fire and zombie, with over 40 new scents coming soon.
- Other companies have tried Smell-O-Vision, but MovieScent is one of the first products to actually come to market and offer a unique 4D home entertainment experience.
If watching a movie or playing a game lacks that sense of immersion that only the sense of smell can provide, you’re in luck. MovieScent brings the concept of olfactory vision to your home and makes it a reality. This AI-powered device can fill your home with the smells of the forest, a restaurant, and even the foul odor of a zombie.
MovieScent is a discreet little device that you can place in your living room, or if I may say so, your bedroom. The device captures audio in real time via HDMI, 3.5mm audio, or optical connection to sync with whatever you’re watching. You can use MovieScent with your TV, smartphone, tablet, or console. Elevated Perceptions, the company behind MovieScent, uses its proprietary AI technology to use the audio and identify cues in the content. MovieScent then automatically releases scents through the diffuser, syncing with what’s on your screen. MovieScent launches for $179.99, with early bird pricing of $149.99 available through September 30.
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MovieScent is an immersive 4D experience that Nose what it is
Although it’s an absurd concept, Elevated Perceptions offers some pretty crazy smells.
Film scent
MovieScent syncs with what’s on your screen using audio cues and proprietary AI technology. At launch, MovieScent supports six scents, including freshly cut grass, forest, ocean, storm, restaurant, and a scent neutralizer.
At launch, MovieScent comes with a starter kit of six scent vials. On paper, they all sound pretty ordinary. Elevated Perceptions has developed scents that mimic the smell of freshly cut grass, forest, ocean, storm, and restaurant. You can imagine the smell of salt water when you watch Cast Away, or the lush forest when you watch Jungle Cruise. MovieScent also comes with a scent neutralizer spray that cleans the air after the scene is over.
Soon after launch, Elevated Perceptions is getting a little more… ambitious. MovieScent is available “within the next few weeks” and supports scents like fire, zombie, and blood. That means you’ll be able to smell the horde of undead enemies chasing you, just in time for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s zombie mode. To say it’s a little macabre would be an understatement. Halloween is just around the corner, so I guess there’s no better way to immerse yourself in the spooky season than smelling the trail of devastation left behind by Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees.
Elevated Perceptions confirms that over 40 new scents will be released in the next few months. I hope we get some very special scents soon. Let me smell what it would be like in the world of Westeros while watching House of the Dragon. I would also pay a lot of money to get some free scents when I play Astro Bot later this summer.
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MovieScent is one of the first commercialized Smell-o-Vision technologies
Smell-O-Vision, conceived in the 1960s, was never a marketable success.
Increased awareness
I remember driving to Niagara Falls, Ontario as a kid to check out some of the 4D experiences. They pumped smells into the room while 3D animations blared on the big screen. This was in the late 90s and early 2000s. Now, fast forward, this cheesy concept has been stripped down and can now be brought to your home.
Other companies have tried to make Smell-o-Vision a consumer-friendly product. OVR worked on the wireless ION scent cartridge. This was designed to sync with a VR headset via Bluetooth to create a multi-sensory experience. Ubisoft was also once involved with Smell-o-Vision. In the lead-up to the release of South Park: The Fractured but Whole, the studio developed the “Nosulus Rift,” which blows the smell of farts into the wearer’s face. Unfortunately, this product never made it to stores.
