Science team creating 'smell effect' device for games
Listen, we're all for new and exciting video game peripherals which lend themselves to sensory immersion, but -- well, we're not really crazy about the idea of total sensory immersion, you know? Nevertheless, a team of engineers at Birmingham University are working on a device that exposes gamers to context-sensitive scents during their gaming sessions. Thank goodness this thing wasn't around when Conker's Bad Fur Day pooed up our N64s.
The device, which uses a system of scented paraffin waxes and fans to simulate in-game smells, was partially funded by the Ministry of Defense for use in military training simulators, a fact that makes us equal parts uncomfortable and disappointed. Give us scented Cooking Mama over scented Call of Duty: World at War any day of the week.
