The Future of Smell in the Metaverse and Why it Matters

To many of us, the “metaverse” is an abstract and distant concept. However, though unimaginable before Covid-19, the last two years have brought us closer to this concept than ever before. We learned to connect with each other from the comfort of our homes, across space and time, through our screens. Now that we have overcome a psychological hurdle of virtual connection, and have the infrastructure and tools to build virtual environments, it’s time to consider the following: Virtual space as we know it lacks ambiance. Therefore, it is less able to provide a sense of shared space. Scent gained new meaning over the past two years and many of us rediscovered the way it could shape a meal, a space, and even help us feel more connected. Today, unlike audio and visual information, scent is not digitally “transmissible”. As an increasing share of the population spends a significant amount of time interacting virtually, it becomes even more important to address the technological progress in smell, the value-add of scent to a virtual scenario, and why ethical considerations around olfactory experiences should be addressed sooner rather than later. <a href="https://futureofsmell.medium.com/the-future-of-smell-in-the-metaverse-and-why-it-matters-c1f9ff43d67f">Website</a>