For a long time, immersive experiences in VR and AR have mainly focused on two senses.
One is sight, and the other is sound.
Screens have become sharper, refresh rates have become faster, and spatial audio has become more accurate.
From a technical point of view, real progress has been made.
But when many users take off the VR headsets, they often share the same feeling:
the visuals look real, but the world still feels like it’s “missing something.”
The development of VR and AR is moving beyond visual immersion toward multi-sensory experiences.
The real world is not built on a single sense.
How we understand our surroundings, form memories, and develop emotions largely comes from the combination of multiple senses.
Among all these senses, smell has long been the most missing — and the hardest to achieve — in VR and AR experiences.
Not because it isn’t important, but precisely because it is so powerful and so difficult to control.
In fact, the industry is not trying to add smell to immersive experiences for the first time.
As early as 1939, a movie called Scent of Mystery used a system that sounded very advanced at the time —
Smell-O-Vision.
During certain scenes, smells were released from behind the audience’s seats, trying to let people “smell the story.”
The system relied on a device called the Smell Brain, which used compressed air and manual control to release scents.
However, the results were not very good.
The equipment was noisy, and the smells were not evenly distributed. Some people could smell them clearly, while others noticed nothing at all.
In the end, it became more of an interesting experiment than a technology that could be widely used.
Over the following decades, other smell-related devices appeared from time to time.
But most of them were large, complex, and difficult to truly integrate with wearable VR devices.
What changed with the rise of wearable smell devices?
Only recently, a new research project has brought “smell + VR” back into the spotlight.
A team made up of Kelvin Cheng from Rakuten Institute of Technology, Zou Zhe, a PhD student in engineering at Science Tokyo, and Nakamoto Takamichi, a professor at the same university, has developed a small, wearable smell-generating device.
The biggest difference from earlier attempts is this:
This time, the starting point was not “Can we create smells?” but “Can this be worn together with a VR headset?”
In other words, smell was no longer treated as a separate experiment, but as something that must fit naturally into real, wearable VR use.
In this solution, the research team made several key breakthroughs.
First, they focused on reducing size and simplifying the system structure.
They optimized the way scents are delivered and greatly miniaturized the control circuits, allowing the entire system to work together with existing VR headsets.
Second, they improved the precision of scent control.
The device can mix up to eight different scent components at the same time. By adjusting the ratios, it can simulate many different smell environments.
From a technical point of view,
the researchers use ultrasound to turn liquid scents into a very fine mist.
Then, an electro-osmotic pump precisely controls when and how much scent is released, reducing delay and keeping it synchronized with the VR visuals.
This is no longer just a simple “try to smell something” demo.
It is a system designed with real, practical user experience in mind.
Engineering Challenges and Power Design Trends
When VR/AR devices get closer to the human body, system complexity increases exponentially
It is important to note that olfactory devices like this are not standalone systems. They need to work in coordination with displays, control modules, and sensors.
In other words, they are not just “add-on features,” but part of the entire VR/AR system.
Once these devices are designed for long-term wear, very practical problems quickly emerge:
Is the noise acceptable?
Is the temperature safe?
Is the system stable?
Is the battery life sufficient for a full experience?
Especially when placed near the face and respiratory area, even small issues such as heat or power fluctuation can be directly perceived and amplified by users.
This is why early smell-based VR solutions were difficult to commercialize. It was not a lack of ideas, but because system-level requirements are far beyond single-feature demonstrations.
The value of olfactory VR lies in validating real improvements in multi-sensory immersion
In this research, the team also developed virtual travel content based on the device. Users could experience different locations in VR and smell corresponding environmental scents.
The results were very straightforward.
Participants consistently reported that adding smell made the virtual environment feel more realistic and significantly strengthened the sense of “being there.”
This confirms an important point: smell is not just a decorative feature. Its impact on immersion is more direct than many people expect.
From an engineering perspective, VR/AR devices are being redefined by spatial and structural constraints
If we break down these devices, a very practical issue appears: they are extremely constrained by space and structure.
A VR headset already occupies limited physical space.
When smell modules, atomization systems, and control units are added, the available room for the power system becomes even smaller.
At the same time, the system must still meet several strict requirements:
Stable power delivery across multiple modules
No noticeable voltage fluctuation
No overheating during long-term wear
A form factor that fits the human body or curved device surfaces
When these conditions are combined, one conclusion becomes clear: standard battery formats are no longer sufficient.
Wearable VR/AR devices are accelerating toward custom and non-standard battery solutions
In these devices, the battery is no longer just an energy source. It becomes part of the structural design.
To fit headsets, facial modules, side units, or curved geometries, batteries must adapt to the product shape — not the other way around.
This is why more VR/AR wearable projects are adopting custom-shaped lithium batteries, ultra-thin cells, or multi-segment power architectures.
The underlying reason is simple: devices are becoming increasingly “body-close,” and the power system must evolve accordingly.
Looking at this research in a broader context, a direction becomes clear:
Future VR/AR devices will no longer be single-purpose display tools, but long-term wearable multi-system platforms.
In this form factor, the battery is no longer a late-stage component choice. It must be involved from the earliest design phase as a core system element.
As space continues to shrink and functionality continues to expand, customized power solutions — including non-standard battery designs — are becoming inevitable.
Conclusion
Every evolution in technology tends to follow a similar path:
from functional breakthroughs, to experience refinement, and finally to system-level stability.
Olfactory devices are not the endpoint of VR.
But they do remind the industry of one key idea:
what truly defines immersion is often not the most visible part of the system.
When VR moves beyond just letting people see and hear,
and starts to let them smell the world,
it quietly raises the bar for the entire industry.
If your product involves VR/AR, olfactory interaction, or other wearable device development,
the power system is often the most underestimated — yet one of the most critical components.
We can work with you early in the product development stage to evaluate structural space, power consumption, and battery form factors (including custom-shaped battery solutions), helping your device move more reliably into real-world applications.
Email: [email protected]
Whatsapp: +86 18938252128
