Visit to Foundation of Hellenic World

On the 9^th of June 2023, I visited the Foundation of Hellenic World in Athens, Greece. There, I participated in a collaborative VR experience of the outcome of the EU project called BRIDGES. The BRIDGES platform proposes a real-world solution for remote and co-located group interactions in room-scale immersive XR.

The VR experience involved being part of an ancient Greek family. Up to five participants can collaborate into the shared VR space, having their own ancient avatar representations. Smell and wind simulation allows visitors to feel more immersed in the VR experience.

More information:

https://www.bridges-horizon.eu/project/

OVR Technology for VR Smell

OVR Technology is a company that provides a scent emitter for virtual reality. Its product consists of a small add-on, called ION, that can be attached to the lower part of VR headsets thanks to some velcro straps that go all around the device and that can emit little particles of perfume to let you smell in virtual reality. ION is battery-powered and can be controlled via Wi-fi, USB, or Bluetooth.

It contains 9 cartridges of smells, and it can emit bursts of perfume in an optimal way: according to the company, its patented technology allows for .1 millisecond bursts of scent and can change between scents in 20 milliseconds. It seems that OVR studied a lot about how to emit perfumes in the best way possible to offer a realistic sensory experience to its users.

More information:

https://skarredghost.com/2021/11/16/ovr-technology-hands-on-review-2/

Olfactory VR

OVR Technology, has introduced the Architecture of Scent (AOS) to bring olfaction to VR through hardware, software, and scentware components. After two and a half years of development, the company’s primary use cases are in healthcare, training and education, with an eye towards gaming and immersive experiences for the consumer audience. 

Capturing scents often means going to the place of origin, sampling the air and ingredients, teasing out its different components, and then replicating scents in the lab; one geographical area could mean dozens to hundreds of tests. OVR Technology is also designed to recreate complex sensory environments, rather than just one scent at a time.

More information:

https://vrscout.com/news/olfactory-engineering-scent-based-vr/