'Real virtuality' lets you smell, taste, touch other worlds

Do you really want to know what the medieval streets of London smelled like? Well, researchers at the Universities of York and Warwick say they can let you find out, courtesy of a project dubbed, “Towards Real Virtuality.”

A mockup of the conceptual”Virtual Cocoon” that helps users achieve such “real virtuality” was on display today at “Pioneers 09,” an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council event at London’s Olympia Conference Centre.

The researchers coined the term “real virtuality” to describe “an experience in which all senses are stimulated in such a way that the user has a fully immersive perceptual experience, during which s/he cannot tell whether or not it is real.”

The York and Warwick scientists are now working with researchers from the Universities of Bangor, Bradford and Brighton to develop a real “Virtual Cocoon” that can stimulate all five senses to create a next-generation virtual reality.

“Smell will be generated electronically via a new technique being pioneered by Alan Chalmers and his team at Warwick which will deliver a pre-determined smell recipe on-demand,” said lead researcher David Howard, a professor at the University of York. “Taste and smell are closely linked but we intend to provide a texture sensation relating to something being in the mouth. Tactile devices will provide touch.”

Howard added, “Virtual Reality projects have typically only focused on one or two of the five senses — usually sight and hearing. We’re not aware of any other research group anywhere else in the world doing what we plan to do.”