Highlights
- Game Scent uses AI to release real-time smells during gaming for a fully immersive experience.
- It offers scents like clean air, racing cars, and forest, with more on the way.
- Smells can trigger memories, enhancing gameplay and making it more memorable.
A company called Game Scent has revealed its new AI-powered device that lets players smell their games in real time. With the growing popularity of VR, as well as the introduction of haptic feedback in the PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller, companies have been increasingly interested in stimulating all five of senses while people play video games. Horizon Forbidden West used DualSense haptics to try to emulate even the feeling of walking through grass, and the ambitions to create a fully immersive gameplay experience have only grown.
All the way back in 2013, it was revealed that Microsoft had spent over $100 million perfecting the Xbox One controller and had even contemplated adding smells to the new peripheral. For a few years now, patents filed by Sony have hinted that the company is also toying with the idea of adding some kind of digital scent technology to a future iteration of PlayStation or a separate device. In August 2023, it was discovered that Sony had patented a Smell-O-Vision-style feature that would be triggered by certain lights or sounds during gameplay.
Horizon Forbidden West Will Let Players ‘Feel’ The Grass via DualSense Haptics
Horizon Forbidden West Studio Direct states that the game will utilize the haptic technology of the PS5 controller to allow players to ‘feel’ grass.
So the idea of adding smells to video games isn’t new, and it was only a matter of time before a finished product made its way to market. Game Scent is a device that uses AI to analyze the sounds coming from a game and then releases an appropriate scent in real time, letting gamers experience a range of different immersive smells, from cut grass to racing cars to gunfire. There is also a “Clean Air” scent to clear all smells from the air after a gaming session. The kit, which includes six scent cartridges, is available from Amazon for $149.99 and, because it uses sound, Dream Scent works with all game consoles, PCs, streaming platforms, and even movies.
Smells Available or On the Way from Game Scent
Included with the Kit
- Clean Air
- Explosion
- Forest
- Gunfire
- Ocean
- Racing Cars
Not Yet Available
- Big City*
- Blood
- Fresh Cut Grass
- Human Exertion*
- Napalm*
- Sports Arena
- Storm
*Listed only on Amazon
So far, there aren’t many reviews for Game Scent available on Amazon, so the accuracy of the smells and how well the device works are still to be determined. It’s also unclear how many total scents there are or will be, as the official website and the description on Amazon list different smells, and currently the only available scents seem to be the six that come with the kit.
The official website for Game Scent discusses the connection between smells and emotions, citing studies about how certain scents can trigger memories or other intense responses. In the context of gaming, these scents can create a more immersive and therefore memorable experience. This has long been understood, and there have even been Resident Evil perfumes and Persona 5 Royal scented candles that can trigger that link between favorite gaming moments and smells.
Hitting on that same connection, in August 2023, Xbox held a giveaway with a limited-edition pizza-scented Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles controller as the prize. With Game Scent, any gamer will now be able to experience something similar if they choose.
