Metaverse is looking for problems to solve

The 2023 edition of CES, which ended on Sunday, was marked by the emergence of olfactory technologies.

OVR has developed an accessory that attaches to the bottom of a virtual reality (VR) headset to emit scents. The user can thus experience the smoke of a virtual campfire and the smell of roasted marshmallows.

According to OVR Vice President Sarah Socia, smell is important to the metaverse because it is “the only sense directly connected to the limbic system, a part of the brain important for memory and emotions.”

A startup from the US state of Vermont has presented a prototype frame that also includes cartridges of chemical scents and allows you to create fragrances via a mobile app.

The user links them to videos and then shares them with their friends – if they happen to own the weird headband.

Japanese competitor Aromajoin is also betting on the adoption of such devices.

SeonHoon Cho of Aromajoin says, “Most people don’t know what they need. Before smartphones, we didn’t know what place they would play in our lives.”

A comparison chorused by many metaverse start-ups has met with wary observers.

“Prefrontal Cortex”

In late 2021, Facebook rebranded itself as Meta to focus on “the future of the internet,” as described by Mark Zuckerberg, the head of the social networking giant.

But last year, Meta’s revenues fell due to the economic crisis, and the tens of billions of dollars invested in this direction attracted an avalanche of criticism.

Steve Koenig, vice president of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), which organizes the show, admits: “The metaverse is met with skepticism these days. Admittedly, the term remains quite speculative.”

“But the metaverse is starting to take shape, we can see different applications. It’s like being in the early 90s, talking about the internet before you could imagine everything that was going to happen.”

For AjnaLens, virtual immersion represents a solution to the problem of unemployment and the lack of skilled labor.

An Indian company is making a mixed reality headset (virtual and augmented) called AjnaXR that is lighter and more functional than existing models so that users can wear it for hours.

Customers, industrialists use it to teach workers how to operate various tools (welding, painting, etc.), connect to controllers or practically manipulate using haptic gloves (sensational feedback).

“VR has a lot of effects on the prefrontal cortex, which is the part of the brain where you store things for life,” says Pankaj Raut, co-founder of Ajnalens.

“It’s something that once you learn to ride a bike, you never forget it.”

mixed reality

SocialDream also needs to create a mixed reality headset tailored to its immersive videos to stimulate the memory of Alzheimer’s patients.

“Dreamsense is not a helmet, but an image is projected onto a bubble,” says Thierry Gricourt, founder of the French startup. “The face is less tight, there are no eye-damaging lenses, it’s easier to clean, and the sensors measure emotions in real time.”

Accessories such as basic headsets, Oculus (Meta) and Vive (HTC), as well as haptic suits were originally designed for video games.

CTA expects 3.1 million VR headsets (+20% vs. 2022) and more than 380,000 augmented reality or “AR” glasses (+100%) to be sold in the US this year.

According to Accenture’s survey of 9,000 people, more than half of consumers “want to become active users of the metaverse” as soon as possible.

But in the near future, with the exception of video games, professional uses continue at a faster pace.

Red 6 is currently testing an augmented reality system to teach fighter pilots air maneuvers (refueling, combat, etc.).

They see other planes, friendly or enemy, on them. Therefore, training costs less, pollutes less and is less dangerous.

“Metaverse is a bit of a solution looking for a problem. We’ve done the opposite. We’ve found a use case for technology that solves major problems,” said Daniel Robinson, founder of Red 6.

© 2023 AFP