Virtual Reality Helmet

Smell-O-Vision is here! Do you have your virtual reality helmet handy and so are you ready for the experiences you're about to have? Let's see what the Brits have cooked up for all of us!

British scientists at York and Warwick Universities attended up with a virtual reality helmet that, they state, can simulate all 5 of the human senses that it takes to create a real virtual image: taste, feeling, sight, smell and sound. In fact, they will have renamed their version of virtual reality technology, Real Virtuality.

Most VR helmets are made to be lighter in weight and less obtrusive, in order not to interfere with the simulated environment of virtual reality. But the monster helmet the Brit scientists have developed appears like it belongs on an area suit. The prototype version of the virtual reality helmet is large, with a serious, front-mounted, surround-screen that's hi-def in its output, producing images 30 times brighter or darker compared to the average television. A fan and heating system is installed to create the sense of heat and humidity or cooling breezes.

This wireless system communicates with a computer to bring reality to the virtual reality helmet. Aside from the usual sight and auditory systems, the helmet comes with a system to spray flavours to taste into the mouth of the user and a scent dispenser to envelope an individual in scents that would accompany whatever is being experienced. Personally, I wouldn't mind the floral scent of an Alpine meadow, but I wouldn't care about the skunk that may come waddling my way!

So, Smell-O-Vision is here now, and it ought to be obtainable in 5 years, the scientists reveal, at a price of roughly $2,200.00 USD.

In every seriousness, the British scientists believe that this virtual reality helmet, once refined, will be advantageous to education, business and families around the world. Conference calls will seem like having a gathering in the same room, despite the fact that participants might be on different continents. Imagine seeing and speaking with your grandparents, that are clear across the country, and having the ability to smell your grandmother's perfume? It'll be as though they were right there with you in your living room. And think about ancient history? School children can utilize the VR helmet to go to ancient Rome or other historical places.

I'm reminded of the movie, Brainstorm. In  Best VR , Christopher Walken's character is a scientist, directly on the verge of finalizing this type of virtual reality helmet. The consequences it has for military applications are, needless to say, scary, and that becomes the plot of the movie. But what about having the capacity to walk across the Champs Elysees with your cousin and go through the sidewalk cafes of France-in realtime-and all from the comfort of your living room. That point is almost here!

The virtual reality helmet may look a bit cumbersome now, but I'll bet, in 5 years, they will have figured out how exactly to streamline and modify it in order that it won't look like you want to be an astronaut when you grow up.