Finally, a device that will let you smell anime
The Aroma Shooter adds what movies and games have been sorely lacking: smells.
Sometimes at CES, you discover someone who's doing the Lord's work, providing answers to questions we've all had at some point in our lives such as: "Why are we here? Why do bad things happen to good people? How would this anime smell like?" Japan-based startup Aromajoin's mission is to answer the latter query with the AromaPlayer and the Aroma Shooter Wearable.
According to the company, the AromaPlayer is the "world's first scented video platform" that works in concert with Aromajoin's Aroma Shooter, an aroma diffuser that will shoot smells into your face to match what's on screen. Instead of liquids or gas, like a typical aroma diffuser, the Aroma Shooter uses "solid-state" cartridges which Aromajoin claims provide a better, longer smell. AromaPlayer lets you load a clip and engage different smells whenever appropriate for complete smell immersion.
From the teaser, you can see a shot of the Aroma Shooter Wearable which I can only describe as a smell collar (or "stinky tech necklace" as our Katie Wickens described it).
The wireless collar sucks in air which then "passes through the scent particles released from a cartridge" to create the scent which then is fired towards your nose.
There are over 100 different smells to choose, ranging from "coffee" to "ocean," and judging from the clip it looks like you can equip at least six of them on the wearable.
Now, you'd think to showcase this advanced olfactory technology you'd show off clips of bouquets of flowers, or freshly baked cookies. Aromajoin took a different route.
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It decided to showcase the potential of the Aroma Shooter with borderline NSFW anime, including Cyberpunk Edgerunners. I don't really know what smells to associate with busty anime ladies, but if I had to guess, it'd be a combination of lilac, vanilla, and shame.
You can check out the trial version of the AromaPlayer right now, though of course you can only read about the smells without a smell-producing device. There are already tons of user-created smell clips featuring one of the Resident Evil 4 remake trailers, with smells like "wet earth" and "Spanish sage."
The company will be soon launching a crowd-funding campaign for the Aroma Shooter Wearable for VR/AR. You also can buy an Aroma Shooter 2 and six cartridges for $998 straight from the Aromajoin. Cartridges can also be bought separately for $54 a pop.