Is Scent the New Frontier in Virtual Reality Production?

The virtual reality space has boomed over the last few years. Once thought of as a novelty, VR is now a key medium for storytelling, gaming, and even socializing. And while VR can truly make you feel like you are in another space, there’s one sense that’s typically not involved—smell. One Vermont-based tech startup wants to change that. 

“What we wanted to do was, as accurately as possible, recreate how we experience smell in the real world in the virtual world,” said Aaron Wisniewski, OVR's CEO and co-founder. Check out the article from Vermont Public Radio to learn more.

Though Smell-O-Vision and AromaRama of the 1950s didn’t quite catch on, perhaps there’s a key role scent can play in the VR space. After all, science tells us that of the five senses, scent is the one that is most closely tied to emotion—perhaps this technology could help to expand the virtual reality market. But you probably need to decide when to use scent wisely. As much fun as Bard Tales had filming puppies for Animal Planet, we’re not sure anyone really wants to know what that shoot smelled like. And when it was 110 degrees shooting outside in Maderi, India, all the viewer would have smelled was the camera operator—and it wasn’t pretty. Though we only got to experience post-production for Food Network’s first VR series, we bet that shoot smelled amazing!

Bard Tales makes a point of staying up-to-date on the latest tech and tools to help bring stories to life. You can bet we’ll be keeping tabs on this. In the meantime, check out our VR work and contact us for all your video production needs.