The smells and tastes of a great video game

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: The episode explores whether smell and taste can be added to games in meaningful ways, tracing past “smell-o-vision” experiments and testing modern devices like GameScent and taste-simulation prototypes. Andrew Marino argues the tech is real but still clumsy, especially in open-room use, while David Pierce suggests these senses may eventually become useful as immersive VR/game systems evolve.

Main Topics: The long history of smell in media (Priority: 5/5): The hosts discuss early scent technologies, including the 1960 film The Scent of Mystery and theatrical scent systems, showing that scent-based entertainment has been attempted for decades. Modern scent hardware for games: GameScent (Priority: 5/5): Andrew reviews a shipping product that uses an audio-based AI pipeline to detect in-game sounds and release matching scents through an atomizer with multiple fragrance vials. Practical limitations of scent immersion (Priority: 5/5): The experiment works in a limited sense, but scents are hard to distinguish, linger, require proximity, and don’t always increase immersion the way the concept promises. Taste simulation research (Priority: 4/5): The episode shifts to academic and prototype work on taste, including electrical stimulation of the tongue, taste-enhancing utensils, and a virtual cocktail system that combines color, smell, and electrode-based flavor cues. Senses as part of future VR/gaming systems (Priority: 4/5): The hosts argue that smell and taste may become more valuable once haptics and other immersion technologies improve, especially if sensory systems move into head-mounted or full-body setups. Commercial and creative possibilities (Priority: 3/5): The conversation imagines custom scent packs for specific games or films and broader applications like shared virtual drinks, flavor social media, or diet-related taste modification.

Key Arguments: Smell has been explored in entertainment for decades, but early systems required pre-syncing with specific media and never became mainstream. GameScent is notable because it can work across any game or video platform by listening to audio, sending it to the cloud, and using AI to map sounds to scents. The product is clever but hacky: it can trigger relevant smells, yet the limited scent set and room diffusion make the experience inconsistent. Taste simulation is more scientifically grounded than expected; low electrical currents on the tongue can induce basic taste perceptions like salty, sour, sweet, and bitter. Combining smell, color, and electrical taste cues can alter how people perceive a drink, suggesting multisensory design has broader potential beyond gaming. David argues the most convincing future use case may be subtle, ambient scenting rather than precise, frame-by-frame smell synchronization. The next major immersion hurdle is likely haptics; once touch is better solved, smell and taste become more important as missing layers of presence.

Data Points: Episode series length: 4-episode series - The Vergecast segment is described as the third episode in a four-episode series on the five senses of gaming. Historic scent count in film prototype: 15 scents - The 1960 film The Scent of Mystery reportedly used a scent system that deployed 15 different smells to the audience. iSmell release year: 1999 - Andrew references the 1990s USB scent device iSmell as an early desktop-era attempt at digital smell. PC World ranking: One of the worst tech products of all time - iSmell was later listed by PC World magazine in 2006 among the worst tech products ever. GameScent scent chambers/nozzles: 6 spray nozzles - The GameScent atomizer contains six fragrance outputs, each tied to a different scent. GameScent starter scents: 6 scents - The starter set includes gunfire, racing cars, explosions, forest, storm, and clean air (neutralizer). Taste stimulation current: Around 100 microampere - Nimesha Ramasinghe describes using very low electrical current on the tongue to produce taste sensations. 3D-printed taste prototype: 1 spoon - An early taste-interface prototype mentioned was a 3D-printed spoon with embedded electronics and electrodes. Scalable research spin-off: Actively working company - Ramasinghe says the spoon-based taste work was spun into another company that continues development. Commercial ecosystem: 3.4 million companies - A Zapier ad reads that millions of companies are already automating with Zapier; this is advertising, not show content.

Pivotal Quotes: "AI is going to solve smell-of-vision." — Andrew Marino: Andrew argues that modern AI finally makes scent synchronization across games and media plausible. "The next thing will be: well, this still doesn't feel like I'm grabbing anything because all of my other sensations are not there." — David Pierce: David explains why touch, then smell and taste, become important as VR becomes more immersive. "I got the game scent." — Andrew Marino: Andrew confirms he tested the real, shipping scent device firsthand.

Implications: The episode suggests smell and taste remain niche now, but could matter more as VR and gaming become more physically immersive. Near-term value is likely ambient, themed enhancement rather than precise simulation.