I don't know if this kind of thing is predictable enough to work without fans, since airflow makes such a big difference.<p>6 scenes is like, way not enough. And proprietary refills are obviously crappy.<p>How I would do it is to have little pots full of unspillable gel, with the pots having a filter so nothing but scented air can exit(Any spray or mist would contaminate things and possibly make it smell like the previous gunpowder when you meant to do forest).<p>I'd have a tiny silent fan on top of the monitor, and an air pump and bank of valves, that could blow air through the pot, up a hose, and out the fan, which would itself be controllable, and also have a bright RGB light, for muzzle flash and also just as a zoom meeting light.<p>Maybe I'd also have an ultrasonic mister.<p>Then I'd have an API that let you specify a set of scent descriptors from a big list, and would release any of the ones that match. Keep it high level and semantic, like "mens cologne 1", and then tell the engine "I loaded in birch bark, pine, gunpowder fart, old dumpster, and hideous chemical ocean breeze".<p>It could take all the descriptors in the game and match them to "recipes" from its database that can be made with what you loaded.<p>That way you can use any essential oil from any brand, and it will try it's best to use what you give it.<p>But that would probably cost too much to make, except as a very niche thing.
> GameScent feels like a $20 gag gift that's good for a laugh and a bit of fooling around with, after which it goes back into the closet and, eventually, the dumpster. But somehow it sells for $150, which is absolutely bananas.<p>And then if you actually use the thing, presumably you'll have to buy scent refills too...<p>That said, when Kojima said he wanted to make the Snatcher floppy discs smell like stale blood at a crime scene, I thought that was a neat idea. Scented games could have their moment someday.
Everything old is new again (except me, who is old enough to remember a lot of hype around this sort of thing back in 1999 in old video game and general tech magazines like Wired):<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISmell" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISmell</a>
I realize it didn't work so we'll for the author, but I'm super excited to find out that this exists!! I've been dreaming about this for 20 years!!! I can see room for improvements, especially if combined with a room exhaust to quickly clear the air.<p>I've always dreamt of this with watching a film, and combining it with moving air/wind, and heat and cold!<p>It seems like it's early days, per the authors experience, but this is the beginning of something that just needs flawless execution, and we will get there!