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Imagine watching that iconic scene in The Notebook, where Noah and Allie are in a boat and it suddenly starts raining. As the two revel in the downpour (and the complex throes of love), you suddenly get a whiff of something that smells eerily like a rainstorm. You look over, and a tabletop device, about the size of a toaster, has just spritzed an aptly named "Storm" scent into the room, making the scene come to life -- at least just a little bit.
That device is called MovieScent, and it's designed to add dimension to your favorite movies and TV shows by spraying aromas to match what's on your screen. I got to check out the device last week during a demo in San Francisco, during which I witnessed the aforementioned rainstorm scent experience. The "Ocean," "Fresh-Cut Grass" and "Storm" spritzes during the demo were powerful enough to be detected throughout the room, without being overbearing.
MovieScent is compatible with any TV, computer, tablet, phone, gaming system and VR headset, according to the company. It costs $180 (though it's debuting at a sale price of $150) and comes bundled with six scent bottles, which the company says can last for up to 4,000 spritzes. Additional bottles cost $20.
It works via an adapter you connect to your device of choice, which captures audio via HDMI, 3.5mm audio jack or optical audio cable connections. AI will then process that audio in the cloud and detect key cues and environments like the sound of rain or the ocean. The corresponding smell is then released from the atomizer, which is the fancy name for that tabletop device that sprays the various scents.
So if you're watching Cast Away and hear the crash of waves in the background, for example, a corresponding "Ocean" scent is released. More realistically, if I'm watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for the 700th time, I'll enjoy the scent of "Forest" as Harry, Ron and Hermione run through the trees. Other scents include "Clean Air" and even "Restaurant" -- that's one I still need to sample to know whether it's equally applicable across all cooking-related shows like The Bear and Hell's Kitchen, for instance.
Elevated Perceptions, the company behind MovieScent, released a similar product earlier this year called GameScent, which aims to make users feel more immersed in video games. And while GameScent largely incorporates more, shall we say, gory options for aromas like gunfire and even blood, MovieScent opts for more nature-oriented, relaxing selections (though you still have the option to purchase the more jarring aromas, including "Zombie" and "Fire," for MovieScent too). The company says 40 additional scents will be released over the next few months.
The concept behind MovieScent isn't novel; a handful of companies have dreamed up ways to aromatically transport viewers into the world of television, movies and video games. There was, of course, Smell-O-Vision in the 1960s, which sprayed certain odors timed to a film's plot (certainly no AI to detect what scents to spray and when, and this was confined to theaters). Since then, scientists have toyed with the possibility of creating a "smelling screen" that would pin certain aromas to different areas of the screen where that object is being shown (this has yet to come to fruition in a commercial capacity). Then there's the FeelReal virtual reality mask from 2015, which packed an odor and wind generator, as well as water mist openings to really bring the visuals to life, tactilely and aromatically (that product has since faded away).
Dean Finnegan, CEO of MovieScent's parent company Elevated Perceptions, notes recent AI developments have helped to make this tech a reality.
"It wouldn't have been possible four years ago," he says. "AI wasn't good enough. But it's advanced so fast."
And now, you, too can breathe in the magic of your favorite movie or TV show. MovieScent is available to preorder on the company's website or Amazon.