Bring Odors into Virtual Worlds将气味带入虚拟世界

塔尼娅·巴苏/文　韩聪/译

Soon， you may be able to smell the metaverse1. 很快，也许你就能在元宇宙中闻到气味了。

Scientists have come up with a new way to introduce odors into virtual reality via small， wireless interfaces.

科学家们想出了一种新方法，通过小型无线接口将气味引入虚拟现实。

Creating smells in virtual reality is a vexing problem that has prevented consumer VR devices from offering a full sensory experience in most settings. “People can touch in VR，” says Xinge Yu， a professor at the department of biomedical engineering at the City University of Hong Kong and the lead author of the new paper， published in Nature Communications2. “And of course， you can see and hear in VR. But how about smell and taste？”

在虚拟现实中创造气味是一个令人烦恼的问题，阻碍了虚拟现实设备在大多数环境下为消费者提供完整的感官体验。“人们在虚拟现实中能体验到触觉。”香港城市大学生物医学工程系教授、在《自然·通讯》上发表这篇新论文的主要作者于欣格说，“当然，在虚拟现实中能体验到视觉和听觉。但是嗅觉和味觉呢？”

Previous efforts to create odors in VR have involved multiple wires， messy liquids， and bulky contraptions3 that dont lend themselves to4 home use.

以前为了努力在虚拟现实中创造气味，试过一根根的电线、乱七八糟的液体和笨重古怪的装置，并不适合家庭使用。

To tackle the problem， Yu and his co-author， Yuhang Li of Beihang University in Beijing （both of whom have backgrounds designing flexible electronics）， developed two wearable interfaces. One can adhere to5 the skin between the nose and mouth like a bandage; the other straps on beneath a headset6 like a face mask.

为了解决这一问题，于欣格和其共同作者，北京航空航天大学的李宇航（两人都有柔性电子设计经验），开发了两种可穿戴接口：一种像绷带，可以附着在口鼻之间的皮肤上；另一种像口罩，用带子戴在头戴式视图器下面。

Both types of interfaces use miniaturized odor generators， a grid of tiny containers filled with perfumed paraffin wax. When a heat source beneath the wax is activated， the wax heats up， essentially becoming a scented candle capable of reproducing multiple odors within 1.44 seconds， according to Yu and Li. When the experience is over， a copper coil kicks a magnet to tamp down7 on the wax and cool down， ending the scent.

这两种接口都使用微型气味发生器——由装满香味蜡的小容器组成的网格。据于欣格和李宇航说，蜡下的热源启动后加热蜡，蜡基本上就变成了一支能够在1.44秒内再造多种气味的香薰蜡烛。在体验结束时，铜线圈会推动磁体将蜡封住和冷却，终止气味。

The higher the heat， the stronger the odor and the more easily identifiable the smell， Yu says. That means that interfaces can get very hot—up to 60°C （140°F）， which is dangerous for human skin. But Yu says the interface is safe because of an “open” design that lets hot air escape， along with a piece of silicone that forms a barrier between the skin and the actual device.

于欣格說，温度越高，气味就越浓，也越容易闻到。这意味着接口会变得非常热——高达60摄氏度（140华氏度），这会烫伤人体皮肤。但于欣格说接口是安全的，因为采用了“开放式”设计，可以让热气逸出，还有一块硅酮胶在皮肤和实际设备之间形成屏障。

In a test with 11 volunteers， the interface that goes between nose and mouth was judged safe so long as it was at least 1.5 millimeters from the nose， with a temperature at the skins surface of 32.2°C， or 90°F—less than human body temperature. Yu realizes， though， that a scalding hot interface attached to your face might not feel safe enough to use， and he said he and Li were testing ways to make the interface run at lower temperatures or cool down more efficiently.

在一项有11名志愿者参加的测试中，只要附在口鼻之间的接口距鼻子至少1.5毫米，在皮肤表面的温度为32.2摄氏度（约90华氏度），低于人体温度，就可以认为是安全的。不过，于欣格意识到，将滚烫的接口贴在脸上，用起来可能让人感觉不够安全，他说自己和李宇航正在试验如何让接口在更低的温度下运行或更有效地冷却。

Yu and Li are not alone in trying to create seamless olfactory experiences in VR. At CES8， OVR Technology9 announced that it would release a headset containing a cartridge10 with eight “primary” aromas designed to mix and match.

并非只有于欣格和李宇航试图在虚拟现实中创造流畅的嗅觉体验。在国际消费类电子产品展览会上，OVR技术公司宣布将发布一款头戴式视图器，里面装着一个有八种“原”香的香盒，旨在混搭调味。

“This is quite an exciting development，” says Jas Brooks， a PhD candidate at the University of Chicagos Human-Computer Integration Lab who has studied chemical interfaces and smell. “Its tackling a core problem with smell in VR： How do we miniaturize this， make it not messy， and not use liquid？”

“这是一项相當令人振奋的发展。”芝加哥大学人机集成实验室研究化学接口与气味的在读博士贾斯·布鲁克斯说，“这项发展正应对虚拟现实嗅觉的一个核心问题：我们如何将其微型化，让其不散乱，且不使用液体？”

Artists have long attempted to bring scents into entertainment. In 1960， “Smell-O-Vision11” made its first and only appearance with the film Scent of Mystery， which released odors during key plot points via air conditioning. But the effort bombed： during screenings， scents were either delayed or too faint to notice.

长期以来，艺术家们一直试图将气味带入娱乐业。1960年，“嗅觉电影”在电影《神秘的气味》中昙花一现，是通过空调在关键情节点释放气味。但这次艰难尝试失败了：在放映期间，气味要么来得太慢，要么太淡而无法察觉。

These new interfaces are a notable development that could change how we experience VR. Olfaction is a powerful sense and a prerequisite for our mouths to detect flavor. The possibilities range from the obvious—sniffing a virtual flower field or inhaling VR food—to some less obvious applications. For example， perfumeries could test fragrances virtually.

这些新接口的发展引人瞩目，可能会改变我们体验虚拟现实的方式。嗅觉是一种强大的感觉官能，也是口腔察觉味道的前提。从明显的方面——嗅闻虚拟花田或鼻吸虚拟现实食物——到一些不太明显的方面，这都可能派上用场。例如，香水业可以对香水进行虚拟测试。

Medically， scent-equipped VR could be helpful for people who have anosmia12， or an inability to smell， according to Yu. Scents can also be therapeutic13 for patients with memory issues and might even help with mood. Yu told me he noticed he felt happier when he used the green tea scent in his tests. He realized that the smell was nostalgic14： “When I was little， Id have some chocolate with a green tea flavor，” he recalled. “I still remember peeling off the wrapper， and how I loved the smell.”

据于欣格说，在医学上，带有气味的虚拟现实技術可能对嗅觉丧失的人有帮助。气味对有记忆问题的患者也有疗效，甚至可能有助于改善情绪。于欣格告诉我，他注意到自己在测试中使用绿茶香气时，感觉更快乐。他意识到这种气味引人怀旧。“我小时候吃一些绿茶味的巧克力，”他回忆道，“我还记得剥掉包装纸时，多么喜欢那种气味。”

What stands out about these new interfaces is that they are light， small， and wireless. While the device wasnt tested directly with a VR game， platform， or specific device， the fact that it can be used without clunky wires should mean fewer tangles， less bulk， and a more immersive15 experience.

这些新接口的亮点在于轻便、小型、无线。虽然该设备尚未直接在虚拟现实游戏、平台或特定设备上测试，但不需笨重的电线就能使用，这意味着缠结更少、体积更小、体验更真。

One drawback is that the interfaces remain limited in scope. Yu used 30 different scents chosen for their distinctive， recognizable odors， like rosemary and durian. But many real-life scents are less memorable and might not be as recognizable. Additionally， the miniaturized odor generators have yet to be programmed to work smoothly with existing VR headsets. “Its hard to say how this would work in a commercial interface，” Brooks says.

缺点在于接口的适用范围仍然有限。于欣格用了30种独特、易识别的不同气味，如迷迭香和榴莲。但在现实生活中，许多气味不易记住，可能也没那么容易识别。此外，这种微型气味发生器尚未预设程序以顺利配合现有的头戴虚拟现实视图器运转。“这将如何在商用接口中发挥作用还很难说。”布鲁克斯说。

Yu says next steps include testing mechanisms to release scents at the right moment. He also wants to start incorporating what hes learned about smell into figuring out how to introduce taste in VR. Perhaps one day he can replicate the experience of biting into a green-tea-flavored chocolate candy.

于欣格说后续要做的事情包括测试在合适的时候释放气味的装置。他还想结合自己了解到的嗅觉相关知识，来搞清楚如何将味觉引入虚拟现实中。也许有一天，于欣格可以复制儿时咬下一口绿茶味巧克力的体验。

（译者为“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛获奖者；单位：新乡市第十六中学）

1 metaverse元宇宙，指人类运用数字技术构建的、由现实世界映射或超越现实世界的、可与现实世界交互的虚拟世界。  2由英国自然出版集团（Nature Publishing Group）发行的期刊。  3 contraption 奇特的装置。  4 lend oneself to sth适合于。

5 adhere to黏附，附着。  6 headset头戴式视图器。  7 tamp sth （down） 压实。

8 = Consumer Electronics Show 消费类电子产品展览会。  9美国一家数字气味技术提供商，总部位于佛蒙特州。  10 cartridge可插换型容器（如墨盒、胶卷盒等）。  11嗅觉电影，一套气味传递系统，由瑞士发明家汉斯·劳伯（Hans Laube）发明。

12 anosmia嗅觉丧失。  13 therapeutic治疗的。  14 nostalgic引起怀旧的。  15 immer-sive沉浸式的。