Sight, sound and smell. Gaming has the first two covered — and maybe soon the third as well. Then again, maybe not.
In the UK, the Ministry of Defense is part-funding a project that releases foul smells during training vids so soldiers can learn to smell trouble. According to the MailOnline, this tech "is expected to be taken up by manufacturers of top-selling consoles – such as the Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3".
According to Professor Bob Stone, research director at Birmingham University's Human Factors Integration Defence Technology Centre, the smell tech won't be hitting consoles anytime soon. Here's why: "With current levels of technology and, bearing in mind the complexity of how smell is linked to memory, spacial awareness and even emotion, I can't see how it's going to be used," says Professor Stone. "We're looking at 20 to 30 years before this technology works."
He adds, "As long as you've got something that needs to be physically wafted at the human face you'll have delivery problems because it's going to be noisy, clunky and you'll not be able to remove the smell." That stinks.
No Smells On Consoles For "Decades" [IncGamers]