Sony May Soon Bring You… Smellable Games?

A new patent which has been filed by Sony suggests that the company is toying with the idea of allowing you smell your games, in addition to seeing and hearing them.

Sony’s new DualSense controllers have proven that immersion is a very important topic for them. The newest patent seems to be taking this immersion to the next level by incorporating smell into its games. What the extent of this patent will be, and just how diverse the range of smells players can hope to experience, are still up to our own imaginations.

Of course, this is all easier said than done, a fact which isn’t lost on Sony. The patent has details talking about how it plans on providing games with smells and also takes into account the different ways in which every individual will perceive a smell. It also mentions competing smells, which could be caused by the environment and other in-game factors.

However, this is not the first time a company has tried to integrate the sense of smell into a media experience. In fact, it was first attempted all the way back in 1960 through a movie called Scent of Mystery. While that trend didn’t catch on, if Sony manages to pull it off, the tech may just become fairly commonplace.

Immersiveness seems to be on Sony’s plan of action when it comes to the PS5. The DualSense has been one of the most talked about features, allowing players to feel even minute vibrations. The adaptive triggers and haptic feedback greatly increase the level of immersion, complemented by the stellar 3D audio in the PS5.

3 out of the 5 major senses have been covered, and smell seems to be next on Sony’s agenda. If the patent does come to fruition, only taste would remain. However, that doesn’t seem to be a box that absolutely needs to be checked. After all, aside from a few games such as Cooking Mama, taste isn’t that big a thing in games. And, if some scenes are to be considered, we may be better off not even opening that Pandora’s Box.

About Sony

Sony Corporation is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered in Kōnan, Minato, Tokyo. The company operates as one of the world’s largest manufacturers of consumer and professional electronic products, the largest video game console company, the second largest video game publisher, the second largest record company, as well as one of the most comprehensive media companies, being the largest Japanese media conglomerate by size. Best known for their TVs, cameras and the widely popular PlayStation gaming consoles, Sony is also partners with various developers and publishers to release exclusive games for their systems.